Digimon: Operation Disaster(FINISHED!)
by Ashi-sama
Summary: The new evil is intent on ruling and is completely ruthless. All hope seems lost. Can the DigiDestined pull together in time to save both worlds? Will the secretive oppressed Chengkomon help them? Who the heck are Stragini and the Genesis? R&R! This story
1. In the Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Never have, never will. I don't own the Chengkomon either. Tuqei came up with them. I, however, changed the ©spelling and how they ©act, look, etc. I own ©Gasudramon, my specific ©Chengkomon characters, the ©Viromon, and ©Yasomon. I do not own Leomon or Piximon, yada yada yada…_

Author's Note: I am aware that I am not right in the mind. I'm also aware that I need psychological help. However, I'd like **you **to be aware that most of my friends are like me. So either they picked it up from me or I picked it up from them. Either way, opposites are not the only ones to attract. One more thing: I know I have spelled Piximon several different ways (Pixiemon, for example). That's cause I change my ideas. I also spell other things oddly, like Genai, Genii, Jenni, Jeni, Geni, etc. Now, on to the story!

**Digimon: Operation Disaster**™

(1)Appearance Disappearance(1)

The Digidestined walked through a forest- again- on their way to Genai's house. Suddenly, Mimi paused and started crying.

"What's wrong, Mimi?" Sora asked.

"I…I just remembered…about Pixiemon…and Leomon…and all the good Digimon…that died for us!" Mimi sobbed.

Joe ran towards Mimi. "It's okay," Joe said, trying to comfort her. "Hey, remember what Leomon said before he went away? He said he would go rejuvenate at the Primary Village!"

"But then Ogremon told us the Primary Village had been destroyed by the Dark Masters."

"Yeah, but he also said it would never be the same 'till the Dark Masters were destroyed." Joe turned to the rest of the group. "Maybe we could go to the Primary Village and see if it's back to normal. We could see all our friends again!"

"Yes, and I could see Wizardmon again…" Gatomon whispered.

"That sounds logical, Joe. I think I know how to get there, too," said Izzy.

"Wait a minute, Izzy," Tai said. "What's so logical about that?"

"Well…I analyzed the situation…and so you see…therefore…if I am correct…" Izzy droned on and on.

"I'm sorry I asked," muttered Tai.

"Yay!" cried TK. "Let's go, come on! I wanna see Elecmon again!"

They all waited as Izzy tapped into his computer, trying to figure out which way to go. A moment later, he jumped up and said "That way!" They trooped off happily, Tai leading with Izzy at his side.

At dusk, the digidestined stopped at a small clearing and set up camp. After a nice, big meal, everyone settled down in a cave and immediately fell asleep.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

The next morning, everyone woke up. Matt shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Where's Koushiro?"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(2)Reappearance(2)

Tentomon came buzzing over to Izumi. "Izzy, what are you doing? We have to catch up with the others!"

"Just a sec. This is important."

"Izzy, I know tha-"

Izzy turned his laptop to a weird looking digimon that had just appeared. It had perky ears, a short tail, and walked on four legs.

"Perromon," read Izzy. "A peaceful, plant-eating electric-type, once it finds a nice Digimon it never leaves it."

Perromon tilted its head at Izzy. It looked oddly like a blue and yellow dog. It ran up to Izzy and licked him. Izzy patted it on the head and said, "It sure is friendly. C'mon, let's go." As Izzy got up to leave, Perromon whined. Tentomon and Izzy walked through the woods, searching for Tai and the others.

"Looking for person?"

"AAHHH! Perromon, why are you following us?" Perromon nuzzled up against Izzy.

"You nice. I stay with you."

Izzy looked down at the Digimon. "Sorry. You'll just be in our way."

"No I not! I really good sniffer, I help you!" As if to prove his talent, Perromon held his nose high and took a deep whiff. "I smell human! This way!" Perromon ran off, Izzy and Tentomon in tow.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Gatomon paused and lifted her nose. "What is it?" asked Kari. The group stopped and looked at Gatomon. "I smell lightning!" Tai walked over. "You must be mistaken. I can see the moon clearly, there's not a cloud in the sky!"

"Well, I smell electricity," Gatomon insisted. Suddenly a bright light cut through the dense trees. A dog digimon and Tentomon were coming, using their electricity to light the way for…Izzy!

Tai ran forward. "Izzy! We were worried! Uhhhh, what's _that_?"

"This is Perromon. He's sort of attached to me. He helped us find our way to you." Mimi yawned. "I don't care _who_ helped you, I just wanna go to sleep. Look, Tanemon is asleep already." Everyone looked. Tanemon _was_ sleeping, and so were all the other digimon.

"C'mon, Tai. Let's go to bed," pleaded Joe.

"Yeah, we're not gonna get far if we're exhausted," reasoned Matt. Tai smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm tired too. Let's go to bed." Everyone settled down and was soon snoozing and snoring. Perromon snuggled under Izzy's arm and fell into a peaceful, dreamy sleep.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(3)Forest of Change(3)

"Up, up! Me smell danger! Up, up! Izzy, up!" Perromon desperately nuzzled Izzy's face. "Not want hurt you, but must." Perromon backed up and let loose a huge bolt of lightning.

"WWWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Izzy jumped up and glared at the digimon. "Perromon, what do you think you're doing?!?!"

"Oh, _I_ think I know."

"Wha!" Everyone spun around. There was…Leomon!

Izzy turned to Perromon. "Leomon's not an evil digimon! He's our friend." Perromon tilted his head. "Leomon try to kill Perromon."

"Sorry about that," said Leomon. "I was possessed by a gear. So anyway, what are you kids doing now? Shouldn't you be heading home?"

Joe rubbed his forehead. "Well, we wanted to see if the Primary Village was back to normal, but if you're standing here almost fully digivolved, I suppose it must be."

Leomon chuckled. "You are correct. Come, if you wish to see your friends, I will take you there." Leomon digivolved to Saberleomon and everyone climbed on. They zipped through the forest, zigzagging through trees and leaping over bushes. Suddenly, Saberleomon stopped and fell over.

"WHOOAA!" They all fell off and ran to his head. "Fine time for a nap," cried Mimi. "Now we've got to walk!…But, ya know, we can all use the exercise!" Everyone turned to stare at Mimi.

"Oh, puh-_leez_," muttered Sora. "Like we're gonna fall for _that_ one. You're not acting like yourself."

Tai turned to Sora. "Oh, like **you** _are_. But, hey, I'm not in charge, so…"

Joe shrugged. "Who cares if we're acting normal or not. Life's a party! Yahoo!" Joe started running in circles, giggling like an idiot. TK frowned and crossed his arms.

"Joe, this is no laughing matter. Something is wrong!"

Kari sneered. "Who cares about him? I'm more important than all of you put together! You should be concentrating on _me! Me!_"

Matt had a desperate look on his face. "Calm down everyone! We should be friends here!"

Gatomon turned to the other digimon. "We may have a problem." Gomamon nodded and said, "Look, they're all acting the opposite of their crests. Joe's not being reliable at all!"

"Wait a minute," said Gobumon. "Matt's acting very friendly. How come?" Koromon thought a moment, then said "Maybe they're not being the opposite of their crests. Maybe they are being the opposite of themselves, their personalities!" Patamon nodded. "That sounds about right." Everyone turned to the sound of whining.

"Izzy, Izzy!" cried Perromon. Izumi shook his head. "No! I don't want to. It is funner to sit here. Who wants to learn, anyway?" Perromon started to cry. With his tears came tiny static bolts. Soon Perromon was sobbing loudly, and electricity was flying all over. Little static bolts were hitting Tentomon. He got angry and let some Super Shocker out. Lightning hit Perromon. He yelped and let loose. Everyone was electrocuted. The digimon ran for cover. In the midst of this, Matt was heard screaming, "What's the big idea?" "We're gonna die!" shrieked Joe. Tentomon and Perromon realized the electricity was curing everyone, and continued. Soon the group was back to normal.

"Perromon happy!" the little digimon cried gleefully. "Yay!" the other digimon shouted, ecstatically dancing around the digidestined and the newly awakened Saberleomon. Patamon flew in circles around TK. "This must be the Forest Of Change," he said. "Yes," replied Gatomon. "And the sooner we get out of here, the better."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Leomon awoke. Quietly, silently, he slipped off into the woods, carrying TK and Kari.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(4)Primary Village(4)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "TEEEEEEEEEEEKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!!" replied Joe, glaring at Tai and Matt. "You know, _some_ people like to sleep in and be awakened by something a little nicer than your _screams_!"

"But TK and Kari are gone!" cried Matt and Tai. Now everyone was up.

"Not agaaaaaiiiiiiin!" shrieked Mimi. "Look, Leomon is gone, too."

Sora stood up. "Come on, we'd better go look for them." They headed off into the woods, following a trail that seemed to have been cut by a large digimon. After a couple of hours, Patamon whispered something to Gatomon. She nodded and they ran away. Joe, Mimi and Sora lunged after them and fell down in a tangle. The children and their digimon quickly ran in the direction Patamon and Gatomon went.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Mimi groaned. "Couldn't they spend 5 lousy seconds telling us where they were going?" she moaned. "We've been looking for days!"

"We've only been searching for 4 hours," said Matt anxiously. "And if you're going to…" "Look!" cried Sora. "It's Primary Village! It _has_ to be!" The path had opened up into a large clearing. Millions of little huts were scattered around. Large colorful blocks formed walls around the area. One large hut had a door, whereas the others had open doorways. The group silently walked towards the large hut. "This is creepy," whispered Mimi. "I thought lots of digimon would be here to welcome us." They went into the hut and gasped. The hut was filled with rows and rows of things that looked a lot like bookshelves. Digiglass covered the sides. Inside were digieggs. Wires were hooked up them that seemed to be pumping energy into them.

"It's like a rehabilitation center," said Tai.

"What's a reabiltion center, Matt?" asked TK. Matt jumped.

"TK! You're okay!"

"Yup!" said TK and Hikari.

"Where were you guys?" cried Tai. "We were worried!" Leomon walked into the hut.

"They were sick. I carried them here to get well. But you are not allowed in here. You must leave." As they left, TK looked at Leomon and said, "What happened? When I first came here, eggs were scattered around and babies were in little cradles." Leomon looked sad. Suddenly, Elecmon came over.

"Hi, TK. I overheard your question. You see, it went like this…

"It was an ordinary day, sprinkling a bit. I was moving the cradles and digieggs so they wouldn't get wet. All of a sudden, Armagedimon came and tore the place apart. Everything he saw, he destroyed. Not a single digimon was left. All I could salvage from the wreck was a digiegg. I took extra special care of it until it digivolved into a Yasomon. Together, we rebuilt the village, with huts and special machines to hatch the eggs faster.

"But while he was here, Armagedimon had brought into existence something horrible. It's known as Secondary Village. It is right beyond that wall over there, called Tor Kasa, or Separation Wall. It's where all the evil digimon go when they're defeated. You know, Venomyotismon, Demidevimon, Puppetmon. I built everything so strong in case they break out. I know it won't stop them, but maybe it can hold them long enough for me to move some digimon."

Tai nodded understanding. "Is Pixiemon healthy yet? We've really wanted to see everyone again."

Elecmon nodded. "Sure, I'll show you." He led them through a maze of blocks and huts towards a large room. "Now, they're eating, so don't expect too much." The digidestined stepped into the noisy room, and immediately it fell silent. A second later, food was spilled and chairs overturned as the digimon struggled to get to them. Pixiemon, Chuumon, Wizardmon, and many others crowded around them shouting, "I knew you'd make it! I_ knew_ it!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(5)A New Evil(5)

Gatomon and Wizardmon sat talking on the riverfront. Chuumon, Sora, and Mimi chatted in Sukamon and Chuumon's hut(Sukamon was still eating his garbage dinner). Pixiemon, Leomon, Tai, Izzy, and Joe walked through the woods telling stories of the past. At the fire sat Elecmon, Kari, TK, Matt, Gabumon, and Patamon. The other digimon sat in the dining room, building up energy with lots of candy. Presently, Elecmon ordered them all to go to bed, as the babies were having trouble sleeping.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Kari woke with a start. Because the babies had woken her often since Leomon had brought them there, she didn't think anything of it. However, at that second, she heard a crash that reverberated throughout her whole body. She ran out of the guest hut. All around the Village, curious heads were poking out of doorways. Tai and Matt, along with their digimon, were running towards the noise. Kari ran after them and was soon joined by the others. Soon, all the older digimon were racing down the path with them. The sound was coming from the Separation Wall.

Stopping in horror, they stared, transfixed, at the scene before them. The grand Tor Kasa, which had stood tall and strong for so long, was no longer grand. A hole had been blasted through it, and was rapidly being enlarged. Giant tentacles and blasts of light were broadening the already huge hole. Elecmon ran back to the village crying, "I'll try to move the babies!" Frigimon followed to help with them. All the digimon too young to fight were loading baskets with eggs and carrying them off somewhere safer.

"Digidestined!" shouted Leomon. "We must fight against this new evil! It cannot reach the children!" He digivolved to Saberleomon, and looked expectantly at them.

"Agumon, warp digivolve to…**Waargreymon**!"

"Gabumon, warp digivolve to…**Me-tal-ga-rurumon**!"

"Palmon, super-digivolve to…_Lilymon_!"

"Gomamon, warp digivolve to…**Marine-angemon**!"

"Tentomon, super-digivolve to…**Meeegakabuterimooon**!"

"Biyomon, warp digivolve to…Phoenixmon!"

"Hyeaah!" Saberleomon shot something through the gaping hole, and screams issued forth. Suddenly, a giant, ugly, monster-of-a-digimon leapt through the hole, widening it a bit in the process. He was a horrific sight. He had a snake-like body that continued through his tail, ending in a sharp stinger. Bat wings beat the air as he soared up. He had four double-jointed legs, each ending in large razor-sharp claws. He raised his long, narrow head on his long, narrow neck and breathed fire into the dark sky, illuminating his face. It was shaped like a dragon's head, with horns on the top and pointy teeth from the mouth. Smoke poured from his large nostrils, and he grinned wickedly down at them.

With one "Dark Annihilation!" all the digimon dedigivolved to their in-training stages: Koromon, Tsunomon, Tanemon, Bukamon, Motimon, and Yokomon. Saberleomon dodged away and out of sight. The evil digimon called down to them, "Hello, digimon! Are you prepared to fight me?!" He laughed. "I am called Gasudramon, and remember that name, for you will hear it every day from now on! Hahahahahaaaa!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(6)Good and Evil Plans(6)

Gasudramon burned down all the buildings in Primary Village, then chased down the escaping digimon. He teasingly slashed his claws at them, missing by millimeters.

Turning back to the Wall, he called, "Come forth through Tor Kasa! Come forth from Secondary Village! Come forth to me, Gasudramon, your Master! For only I can quench your blood thirst! Come forth to serve, to conquer, and to kill!"

The helpless Digidestined and their digimon watched in terror as, from out of the wall, came the most horrible monsters, which looked like they'd come straight up from Beneath. There were giant cockroaches, squirting poisonous gas, and huge mosquitoes, thirstily tasting the air, and long, fat snakes, showing jagged teeth, and tiger-like monsters, stalking through the hole, eyeing the Digidestined hungrily, and greedy-looking creatures that were indescribable. Then, when it seemed all the evil digimon were out, there emerged a huge group of beings like no others. They were not humans, but nor did they look like digimon. Silently opening his laptop, Izzy hissed, "Those are called Chengkomon. There isn't any other information." The Digidestined stared at the Chengkomon. They had the build of a human, but none were the same. One had a cat's tail, ears, whiskers, and claws. She was wearing a black bikini top and skirt, and her black hair was in a ponytail. Another one had brown bird wings folded down her back, and her bare feet ended in claws. She had short white hair, and was wearing a light, breezy, brown dress.

"Let us go, to plan and begin our quest of devastation!" shrieked Gasudramon, and immediately flying snakes with baskets tied below them landed. The digimon that could not fly hopped into the baskets, and Gasudramon led them off.

The Digidestined stared after them. Joe was the first to speak. "I need to change my pants."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Matt leaned back in his chair. "It's simple. We have to kill this dude before he kills us." "I know that!" cried Tai. "I've only been saying that for twenty minutes!" "It's not that simple, Tai," said Sora. "We're not strong enough."

"We can train with Pixiemon!"

"He followed Gasudramon as a scout."

"What about Leomon?"

"He ran off somewhere when Gasudramon came out of the wall."

"We can't just give up!" Tai threw his arms up in exasperation. Izzy looked over at him. "We're not, Tai. But we need a better plan than just running off to fight him." Matt got up and paced. "We need to kill him, but we need more info first." He turned to Elecmon. "Is there anymon left in the village that could tell us more about some of those digi's?"

Elecmon paused. "If anyone knew, it would be Yasomon. He's with the eggs, though." "Where are the eggs?" asked Kari.

"That's just it. I don't know. I stayed with you guys because I knew you better. I sent Yasomon to take the eggs somewhere, but for security reasons, he didn't tell me where he was taking them."

Joe groaned. "Well, that's just great. We'll have to fight them without any help, then!"

TK stood up. "No we don't! Why don't we just go look for them? We're smarter than that stupid Gasudamon!"

Matt grinned and rubbed TK's hair. "Yup. That's what we're gonna do."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(7)Chengkomon(7)

A young Chengkomon padded down a hallway. Her small feline feet made no sound whatsoever. She stopped to look herself over in a full-length mirror. She had on a tight skirt reaching to her knees made out of leopard skin, and a bikini top from the same material. Her pale yellow skin had been carefully washed, and her smooth, red, shoulder-length hair had been articulately tied into a ponytail with a minx-fur holder. She had brushed her triangular ears and combed her long, graceful whiskers. Though she stood on two legs, she looked an awful lot like a cat, especially with her smooth tail, which she always held up high with dignity except when she was working. Smiling, she adjusted the angle of her ears so they were submissive instead of aggressive. Then she turned and elegantly continued down the gold hallway.

She paused before a pair of huge, silver doors. The symbol of the dragon was engraved on them. A Chengkomon stood on either side of the door. She silently nodded to them, and with a look of sympathy aimed at her, they opened the doors and ushered her into the Hall.

The female feline walked in and anxiously stood before a throne made to fit a dragon. She carefully made sure to kneel down on one knee, for standing before Gasudramon meant punishment.

"Why have you come, Chengkomon?" boomed a voice from the throne.

"To praise and report, Lord Gasudramon," she said passively.

"There is no need to butter me up, Felina. I am already well pleased with you. Make your report and be gone."

"Yes, my liege. My report is this:

"While we were building our eastern encampment, I discovered a creature called Pixiemon sneaking around. I made sure to dispose of him. Later, while supervising the construction of the southern outpost, I learned of a digimon called Leomon. I made sure that he was captured and taken to the western settlement for questioning. So far, he has not spoken a word of useful info. He- he speaks only gibberish about…"

Gasudramon leaned forward. "About what, pray tell?"

Felina hesitated. "He spoke about Digidestined, and their fate of saving the digital world for years to come. They…they do not sound like digimon."

Her master growled. "What do you _mean_, not digimon? Ah, I see. You are trying to fool me. You should know better than that, Felina. These, these _Digidestined_, they are Chengkomon, are they not? Do not lie to me, my slave."

Felina trembled. "No, my lord, I would never dream of it! I know not of what these creatures are. I am only reporting. I beg of you, allow me to retire to my bed and arise early tomorrow. I will leave before sunrise and bring back more information as to the whereabouts of these things."

Gasudramon frowned. "Alright, little slave, but be back within the week. I have another task for you, when you return."

"Thank you, wise and wonderful master." The Chengkomon stood up, still looking at the floor, and backed out the door. Gasudramon smiled after her. "The Digidestined…I was wondering when they'd show up…"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(8)More Chengkomon(8)

Aviara looked up as Felina entered. "Hi! It's been a long time since I've seen you around." Felina sank down into her basket and looked at Aviara, who was casually lounging in a nest, a book called "Black and Dark, Gears and Rings" in her hands. Her wings were folded at her back and multiple toe rings decorated her talons. Her short white hair was practically flat against her neck and head, and her brown-black dress fluttered in the breeze drifting into their tent.

"Yeah, well, you don't get much free time working for Gasudramon."

Aviara raised an eyebrow. "'Working'? Wow. So you've given up your fight for paychecks and free speech?"

"Oh, I don't know. Gasudramon is happy with me and I've got decent work. It's better than bein' dead or punished."

"'Decent'? Man, that's an understatement. You're his right hand Mon! You oversee things, draw up plans, spy, whatever. I'm still hauling water from the stream!"

Felina grinned. "Not for long, you won't. I've been designing a well that will carry the water up automatically by pushing a button."

Aviara groaned. "Perfect. Then I'll be doing KP five times a week."

"I doubt that. I created a prototype dishwasher. I'm showing it to Gasudramon next month."

Aviara laughed. "I just can't outdo you! Every complaint I've got, you've got an answer for!"

"Isn't that good?"

The two girls dissolved into fits of laughter. Quickly, they covered their mouths, stifling the sounds they were making so they could listen to what was happening outside their tent.

**"What kind of imbecile digimon are you??!!** This is the simplest task anyone has ever been given!" Slash! Slash! "Get moving, or I'll whip you again!!"

"Please, sir, I'm doing the be-"

Slash! Slash! "_I'll_ decide what's your best! Start doing a better job, or I'll whip you 'till you're red!" Slash! Slash!

Aviara shuddered. "I'm glad I'm not that digimon."

Felina sighed. "I hate to think what poor soul is getting hurt for forced labor." Aviara groaned. "Oh, Felina, come off it. We're Chengkomon. We're fated to live this way."

"Doomed is more like it, Aviara. I'm going to sleep now. I have to get up early tomorrow." Felina curled up in her basket and fell into slumber within seconds. The other Chengkomon sighed and folded her wings over herself. Closing her eyes, she murmured, "She always has to get up early."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(9)Leomon's Slip(9)

**Inside the Western Settlement…** Leomon moaned ever so quietly. Looking gloomily around at the dark walls surrounding him, he again tried to escape.

"**Fist of the Beast King!**" The attack hit the wall and bounced, flying towards the wall opposite. Like all the other times, it continued to spring about the room, Leomon attempting to dodge. Finally, it knocked into him, slamming him against the confining walls. Warm blood trickling down his side, Leomon thought back.

He had bounded away from Primary Village when the DestinedDigi's dedigivolved. Hiding in the nearby woods, he was able to follow Gasudramon, and then a Chengkomon, as she went about her duties. However, down in the south, she had found him. He remembered all too well what she has done.

"So. You are aiding those who oppose the Everlasting Lord?"

"Be silent, Chengkomon. I know of your kind. Why are you helping the Dark Dragon rise again?"

"You should be silent, Lion! _You_, of all Mon, should know what will happen to those who resist the Master."

"I do know what will happen, but I care not, for as long as the DigiDestined are here, my life is a trivial thing."

"You would toss away your pitiful life for an unsuccessful campaign, Lion?"

"You will not think such things when we triumph. We _will_ succeed."

"I doubt that, Leomon."

"Join us! There is still time! We will protect you! Come back to your rightful-"

"Silence! Do not speak of this!"

"I must kill you then."

"Oh, but that would be so sad! Lord Gasudramon dislikes having his faithful servants killed. It is you who will be forcibly taken. But not killed…"

Leomon had suddenly felt himself being restrained by thousands of Viromon.

"Oh no, not killed. I have other things in mind."

"What are you doing?!"

"Quiet, Lion, and be grateful. You will be very useful to the Mighty Master."

Leomon had blacked out, then. He was brought back to the present as the door to the room slid open, and thousands of Viromon swarmed him. Leomon looked on is disgust as the tiny creatures surrounded him. Alone, they were no more than annoying bugs, hardly bigger than a fly. But together, working as a unit, they were a formidable force. A thousand leapt onto him, holding him down, while another thousand climbed up his arms and chained him to a wall. Working together, he was soon chained tightly to the wall by his wrists, ankles, and waist. No Mon had any more worries about him. He couldn't attack without the use of his hand.

Smiling slightly, a Chengkomon stepped into the room.

"Felina. What are you seeking now?"

"More information, of course. The Great Gasudramon wishes to learn more of the DigiDestined."

"No need. He knows of them."

Felina looked up sharply.

"And how would you know?"

"I know."

"Shut up and speak sense, Lion."

"I do."

Felina slashed him across the face with her claws. "I know of your trickery, Lion! Speak clearly, or you will die! I have other sources!"

"You do, but you would not kill me. Your master would be angry. I am too valuable."

Felina spoke quietly. "Yes. That is true. But there is nothing stopping me from giving you eternal torment!" As she spoke the last words, the Viromon attacked, biting and stinging Leomon. Dimly, he was aware of blood pouring from his multiple wounds.

"You still think me soft, Lion. Those days are past tense. Forget them. Realize the new me!

"Now, tell me more. Perhaps the Dragon Lord does know, but I do not, and to assist my master, I must know. Tell me!"

"I will say nothing that will assist the Dark Dragon!" Leomon cried, and the Viromon attacked again, slicing through the vulnerable spots in his skin. Felina grew angry.

"Who are they?!"

"I will not tell!"

"How many are there?!"

"That is for me to know!"

"What powers do they have?!"

"Find out yourself!"

Felina started to scream in anger, but paused. She smiled. "Why, that is a good idea. Thank you, Leomon. In fact, I know just the way to do it. Goodbye." Felina turned. Leomon called after her.

"Think of Stragini!" Felina stopped short. Turning around, she glared at him.

"Do not remind me of her. Or you will regret it." She turned and strode out, and the Viromon looked disappointed. They all gave one last bite, then removed the chains and raced away, locking the door, leaving Leomon to sink to the floor in pain and fear, fear for the futures of the DigiDestined, and the Digiworld.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(10)What of Piximon?(10)

**Inside the Eastern Encampment…**A crowd of mad Viromon jeered and laughed. Some threw food. Others poked and bit. All was aimed at a small pink ball with wings: Piximon. His weapons broken and his wing feathers plucked, he was helpless. The Viromon continued to make fun of him, a puff with bald wings. The crowd grew silent as a Chengkomon drew near, parting the crowd. It was not Felina. This digimon had thin gray fur, sharp teeth, long claws, and a short tail. Her ears pointed slightly to the side, and her eyes were gold (If ya can't figure it out yet, she's a wolf Chengkomon). Her fur covered her from head to toe, so she had no need for clothing. Her eyes burned with hatred, a longing desire, but she didn't do what she wished. Instead, she stepped right up to the elevated cage Piximon was trapped in and twisted her mouth into a wicked smile.

"As you must know, Piximon, Felina tried to kill you. I, however, thought you might prove beneficial. And you have. You will have the honor of helping the Great Gasudramon in his rise to power."

Piximon gritted his teeth. "You may have taken my weapons and made me flightless, but I will still fight you, as will all the other digimon."

The Chengkomon smiled. "I doubt even you will be able to fight this…" She was cut off by a voice, panting, "Caniinya! Caniinya! I have brought news!" It was Chitaro, the Cheetah-Chengkomon.

"Well, don't just stand there, fool!" snapped Caniinya. "What is the message?"

"'From the Everlasting, the All-powerful, Wonderful and Great Lord Gasudramon, to Trusted Servant Caniinya,'" recited Chitaro. He took out a scroll and continued, reading off of it now. "'I have a message for you, Caniinya. Felina has just alerted me that you have a digi-rebel. I trust you have plans for him that will make him useful to me.

"I would also like to remind you that because of your successful governing of the Eastern Encampment that Felina started, both of you will be well rewarded. Expect your gift soon.

"Your Eternal and Merciful Master,

"Lord Gasudramon.'"

Chitaro rolled up the scroll. "That is all, Caniinya."

"Then be gone, fool! Blithering idiot! I have no need for you! Go back to the Mighty Master. Tell him I thank him most respectfully and that I will continue to please and praise him. Now go!" Chitaro stuffed the scroll into his belt, and, with one last ungrateful look, dropped to all fours and raced away through the jungle. Caniinya sniffed angrily and turned back to Piximon.

"As I was saying-" She was interrupted yet again, this time by a Viromon.

"Lady Caniinya, someone else has been caught lurking around the encampment!"

Caniinya looked ready to kill. Clenching her fists tightly, she glared at Piximon then followed the Viromon as they thronged to the edge of the camp.


	2. And Then There Were Eight

(3)Forest of Change(3)

(11)Maps and Camps(11)

Matt punched his fist into his hand. "It's no use, Tai! I _know_ what your maps are like, there's just no point in you trying to make one!"

Tai looked up. "C'mon, Matt, we'll get lost without a map."

"And we'll get lost following _your_ map, too. I say we just head south. That's where Elecmon TOLD us to go, anyway, Tai."

Sora sighed and muttered, "Boys," but didn't try to break them up. Taichi and Yamato had gotten into at least seven arguments already, and they had only been walking for fifteen minutes. Tai had stopped the group so he could draw up a map, but he had been trying for nearly three minutes and still couldn't even understand the compass. Mimi stood up suddenly.

"I've had enough."

"What??" Everyone looked over.

"What are you talking about, Mimi?" asked Tai.

Mimi stamped the ground with her boot. "I mean I've had enough! I'm not going to argue with Tai about the stupid map and I'm not going to wait till he's done. I'm going alone." Palmon caught up with her.

"But, Mimi, there are bugs in the forest!" Mimi screamed and leapt back.

"Eeeewww!" She didn't try to go off again.

Five minutes later, to everyone's relief, Izzy announced that he had brought up a map of the entire Digiworld and they were finally able to continue on. After a while, Perromon (whom they had completely forgotten about, as he was very quiet) said he could smell Yasomon. They followed him now, and soon came to a little camp.

It was not in a clearing, because that was too easy to spot from the sky. Instead, it was spread through the woods, trees poking out of tents here and there, bushes separating clutches of eggs, leaves falling on top of everymon. Yasomon himself came out to meet them. He slightly resembled an octopus. He had a skinny body, long tentacles with small fingers at the ends, and a tiny head with bulging eyes. He was rather ugly.

"DigiDestined!" he cried, his squeaky voice amazingly loud. "I have been waiting for you! Honored, honored…" He dropped to into a sort of bow, very funny as he had no legs, let alone a waist. He looked up, his round eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "Long have I been waiting to meet the legendary DigiDestined, the ones who defeated the Dark Masters and the Dark Lord, soon to defeat the Dark Dragon…"

Joe shifted uncomfortably and muttered, "Anyone else notice a pattern in all these Digimon?" but he was completely ignored. Matt grinned as though he had been waiting for this his entire life.

"Well, ya know, all in a days work of a DigiDestined…"

"It took us two months to kill Myotismon, Matt!" said Sora. Matt elbowed her to shut up and turned back to Yasomon.

"You got decent tents for the celebrities? We've come a long way and need to rest before explaining our business."

Tai looked highly affronted at having his job taken over by Matt, but Yasomon immediately bobbed his head respectfully and led them to the largest tent. "I hope you find your quarters satisfactory, sirs and ladies! My humble camp is not much to offer-" Mimi cut him off with a sweet smile that made him dizzy, and smoothly pushed him out. She came back in. "Glad I shut _him_ up. I'm exhausted!" She collapsed onto a cot but did not fall asleep. "Uh! This thing is so, like, un_comfortable_!"

Kari sighed and climbed up onto a cot. TK got up beside her and they sat, swinging their legs, while Joe, Tai, and Matt argued. Izzy quietly plugged his computer into a ground-based outlet and immersed himself in computer programming. Despite her complaints, Mimi along with Sora had soon fallen asleep. TK and Kari whispered softly to each other and Patamon and Gatomon. Soon, they slipped off, treading silently. Once outside, they gazed happily at the serene landscape. They set off at a run, their digimon trailing behind, exploring the area.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gomamon sat in a circle at the back of the tent. They, alone, had noticed the disappearance of the youngest DigiDestined and their digimon. Agumon instinctively took charge.

"Gomamon, did you talk to the humans?"

"Well, I tried. They wouldn't listen to me!" Gomamon cried. "They're all busy working, sleeping, fighting, or getting lost." Agumon turned to Biyomon and Tentomon.

"Any luck finding Gatomon and the others?"

"Nope!" piped up Biyomon. "They must have gone farther than we thought." "We looked all over the hill," added Tentomon.

Agumon sighed. Plan C was all that was left. "Palmon, did you get in touch with any other good digimon?"

Palmon knew this was their last hope. She had to speak the truth. "No. No one responded."

Agumon was very worried. They were the only ones that seemed capable of speech. The other digimon in the camp didn't appear to hear them, nor did the DigiDestined. In a last-ditch attempt, Palmon had offered to root into the DigiConNetwork (Digimon Connect Network). This was dangerous because it was possible to get too involved in the DigiConNetwork and become "trapped" in it, meaning one would remain forever in a coma-like state. But no one had answered her, and so there had been no chance whatsoever for Palmon to become "trapped". But she had not been able to contact anyone, either.

"There's just one thing left to do," said Agumon. "We have to go search for them."

"I can't leave Matt!" exclaimed Gabumon. "He needs me!"

"I don't want to leave Tai, but Kari, TK, Gatomon, and Patamon might need our help more.," reasoned Agumon. "These guys are living happily in a world of ignorance. But the others are exposed to evil digimon and natural disasters! We _have_ to go after them!"

"We don't _have_ to," said Tentomon. "I'm content right here."

"What is with you guys?" cried Agumon. "Don't you understand? Someone needs to find them!"

Biyomon glared. "They have Gatomon and Patamon, who can turn into Angel digimon. They can look after themselves." She turned, flapped onto Sora, and fell asleep. One by one, the other digimon went off to do whatever they pleased. Agumon stared disbelievingly around him. Why had they deserted? They never had before; they'd always been ready to help the others, even when it wasn't their particular human. But then, their human had always been there with them. Apparently, their instincts to protect their humans were stronger than anyone had thought.

Agumon looked at Tai screaming at Matt, Joe waving his hands trying to calm them down. Agumon didn't want to leave Tai…But he had to make sure Kari was okay too. She was Tai's sister, after all.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

(12)Vacations in a Sort-Of Paradise(12)

"Wow!" TK cried as he reached the edge of the woods. Kari raced out behind him, and found herself in golden sunlight. She hurried ahead to TK, who was standing near the edge of a cliff, looking across at the cliff opposite them.

"Be careful, TK," said the ever-cautious Patamon. TK backed up a bit and Kari ran forward to see. She gasped. Miles and miles down past the straight cliff face was a valley, a glorious meadow of intense green, speckled frequently with flowers of intense oranges and yellows. Cutting across the middle was a sparkling river. All around the meadow were trees, with red fruits and purple buds and blossoms. The end result was the impression that a rainbow had been spread over the land. The effect was dazzling, and Kari couldn't take her eyes off it. She stared. Wild thoughts entered her mind. She had to get down there. She had to smell the flowers, taste the fruits, dance in the river, run through the grass. No thoughts of how came. She just knew she had to get down there.

"TK…" she breathed. He came to her side and looked at the meadow. He became entranced too.

"We need to get down there…" he whispered, even though it was at least ten miles to the bottom. Kari nodded. She took hold of TK's hand, and together, they jumped off the cliff.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Tai glared around.

"Hey, Agumon, why aren't you talking to me?!"

Agumon was playing cards with Gabumon. Neither seemed even remotely interested in anything except the other digimon. It was the same all the way around. They couldn't talk to anyone but each other. Mimi was wailing and Sora had wrapped her arms around herself. Joe was moaning and Izzy was typing on his computer, occasionally crying, "Prodigious!" then going back to quiet murmuring. Matt was muttering mutinously under his breath. TK's disappearance and Gabumon's refusal to talk to him was seriously undermining his usually-confident attitude. 

He stuck his hands in his pocket and felt something hard. His harmonica. He pulled it out and began to play a slow, mournful tune. Joe looked over. He shook his head and stood up. Izzy glanced at Tai. He had his head in his hands. His little sister was missing, the same little sister he'd almost killed once. How had he not noticed? How had she managed to wander out? Izzy got up and talked to Joe. Together, they steered the heartbroken, grief-filled boys out of the tent to search for the younger DigiDestined.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Agumon shivered. He had been wandering for several hours. He had decided to go West, but he guessed that he had gone too far North. A half hour after setting out, a blizzard had struck. Covered from snout to tail in ice-white snow, Agumon sneezed, melting the snow on his nose. He sniffed and tried to continue. He couldn't turn back. He needed to find Kari. That's what Tai wanted, after all. Or would want, if he knew what was happening. Agumon took step after painful step. His blood was freezing. He wouldn't stop. He couldn't. He took another step. His foot hit a log. A sense of falling. A blinding pain on his chest. A soft mantle above. A smooth mattress beneath. No more cold. No more pain. No driving wind or hail or sleet. Just calm, peaceful numbness. Let it go. Let it go. The light is coming. Peace, serenity, warmth, tranquility. Go to the light. Be happy. Yes. Let it go. Leave behind the pain and suffering of the world. Go to the land of goodness. The land of harmony. Of fluffy clouds and snug blankets and gentle pillows. Go to the light. _Yes_, thought Agumon._ I will go to the light…_

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Piximon sank to the bottom of his cage. He had been trying, without success, to fly. At the top of the cage was an opening large enough to admit him, if he could only get up there. It had been built on purpose to torment him. Caniinya knew his feathers wouldn't grow back for at least a digimonth, so it was safe to do so. Now she came back to the cage. She had ordered the Viromon not to disturb her. She stooped, and ducked into the cage. She smiled in a falsely bright way.

"Ah, Piximon. What a delight to see you again."

Piximon snorted. "Who did you catch?"

"That is none of your concern," said Caniinya, turning up her nose and smiling wickedly. "I'm sure it would make you very sad to know, and I need you in a good mood in order to…_extract_…information from you. So. Let's get started, shall we?

Caniinya snapped her furry fingers and the Viromon greedily swarmed in. They pinned Piximon to the wall as their brothers had to Leomon. When he couldn't move, Caniinya took out his spear and twirled it. In one smooth motion she had leaned back and swiftly thrown it into Piximon's left wing.

"Speak, or I'll do that again. To your other wing. And then your hand. There won't be much left of you when I done."

Piximon winced as the spear cut through his wing bone, but he refused to scream. It would only make Caniinya happy. She certainly wasn't now. She slowly pulled out the weapon. She threw the spear and pierced Piximon's other wing. She glared at him, growling low in her throat. Piximon felt blood trickling down his wings, being devoured by the Viromon. His splintered bones were cutting through nerves. He gritted his teeth.

"No matter what you do," he said hoarsely, "I will not tell you anything."

Caniinya pursed her thin lips. "We'll see about that." She yanked out the weapon. She rattled the spear, then snapped it over her knee and tossed it inside. Some straggling Viromon made short work of it. Caniinya then took out a bow and arrow. She looked at it.

"I see you prefer to attack from a distance. I can see why. You are too pathetic and cowardly to attack close. No problem. I can make use of this. You see,"-she moved closer to Piximon-"I like irony. Very ironic to be killed by your own weapons, don't you think?" She stepped back, put an arrow to the bow, and drew it.

"Speak something useful, furball, or your life will end now."

"You shouldn't talk. Looks to me like you're a furry mouse. Very unattractive."

_FFFFFFFFFFT!_ An arrow flew straight and true. It sliced through Piximon's heart. She leaned down to look him in the face as he gasped and felt his heart slow.

"Do not underestimate me. I do not hesitate to kill. I have others. You see, that digimon I captured? It was Agumon. He was dead. As you will now be." Caniinya hefted a sword and plunged it into the top of Piximon's head.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Falling…falling…falling…Wind whipping past…Hair flying back…no fear…no fear…the bottom…rushing up…closer…faster…almost here…almost there…beautiful…the valley…meadow…trees and river…flowers and fruit…land of plenty…welcoming home…jumping closer…going home…going home…_Let's go home_ thought TK and Kari…_Let's go home together…together…we go now…_They plunged to the earth…their bones snapped…their skulls crushed…their hearts stopped…and they went to Agumon.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Gasudramon leaned back in his throne and tapped the tips of his claws together. He smiled.

"Everything is going perfectly and according to plan. Thanks to my loyal and trustworthy lieutenants, I have almost won.

"The DigiConNetwork has been destroyed. All the important digi-rebels have been put into separate subDimensions. Agumon, TK, Kari, and Piximon are dead."

He threw a chunk of meat into the air and sliced it into twenty pieces before it hit the ground. He picked up the pieces and ate four.

"Four down…16 to go…" He threw back his head and laughed maniacally.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Now, most of you are probably P.O.ed about me killing so many good guys. Well, I'm the author so I can do **WHATEVER I WANT!! HAHAHAHA!** Most of you are probably also expecting them to get brought back at the end or something. Well, they're not. They will stay dead-in-the-digiworld _forever_. **BWAHAHAHA!** One more thing: the Chengkomon are important and that's why I'm concentrating on them so much. P.S. Try to find all the subplots! Not all of them are obvious! J

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Joe saw light coming. He raced to the edge of the woods. About ten feet away was a cliff edge. Joe looked over the edge and saw a beautiful valley. Suddenly, he heard sobbing. He turned to see Gatomon and Patamon crying. Matt, Tai, and Izzy emerged from the woods and ran to them. Two of the DigiDestined began yelling, "Where are they?! Where are they?!" Patamon refused to be comforted. He kept screaming and sobbing. All Gatomon could say was, "I don't know what happened! They just looked, and jumped, and…" Patamon broke in. "I couldn't catch them! I tried to grab them, but I couldn't hold them…"

"What are you talking about?" Tai cried frantically. "What happened?"

Gatomon looked totally miserable. "Look over there, over the edge…"

Matt ran to the cliff and looked down. He saw a rocky plain. Looking straight down he gasped. Two tiny, broken bodies were at the bottom. Tai ran up next to him, saw them too, and fell back, clutching his face. Matt just stared, then started to sob uncontrollably. Both collapsed on the ground, crying and sobbing and screaming things like, "It's all my fault! I let them get away! I _killed_ them!"

Joe and Izzy could think of no comforting words.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Felina walked into the tent. Aviara was not there this time. She sighed and sat down in her basket. She picked up _Black and Dark, Gears and Rings_ and flipped through it. It described black gears, dark rings and spirals, and control spires, among other tools of evil digimon. No doubt Gasudramon had looked through it, but it seemed he wasn't pleased with these forms of control because he had been using different methods. Instead of controlling the digi-rebels, he had simply been seeking them out and squashing them like bugs.

The thought of murdering _him_ was horrifying, though, and brought a chill to her spine. Surely Gasudramon wouldn't order her to do that? Surely _he_ could be useful in a different way? There had to be some way _he_ could live…Suddenly, Felina thought of it. It had been intended for Piximon, but he was dead now, after all. _He_ might actually be better…and _he_ would be out of the way…Felina jumped up and raced off to Gasudramon.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

"What's wrong, what's wrong, Meramon?" cried the tribe of pink turnips AKA Yokomon. "What's happening?"

Meramon stood up. He had been searching for almost ten minutes.

"I think the DigiConNetwork has been destroyed," said Meramon finally. The Yokomon gasped.

"But who would have done such a thing?" they asked in unison, their squeaky voices reaching new levels. Meramon winced but said nothing. His guess was as good as theirs; that meant he didn't have a clue. All the evil digimon were sealed in Secondary Village, trapped by Tor Kasa…weren't they?

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Yasomon bustled to the DigiDestineds' tent. He peeked inside. They appeared normal, but when he announced that dinner was ready, they said nothing. They didn't even look at him. Yasomon shrugged and went back to the Dining Pavilion.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Sora sat up, yawned, and stretched. She looked sleepily around. Everyone looked content. Mimi was still sleeping. She smiled, happy that they were finally getting rest, not even thinking about stopping Gasudramon. She thought briefly about supper, but decided that could wait. She wanted to sleep. She laid back and fell asleep.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Gasudramon laughed as Felina trembled.

"Your request is an odd one, indeed. Why do you wish this? Wouldn't you rather him dead?"

"Of course! I thought he might be useful…get rid of the DigiDestined…"

"They are already out of our way. Two are ignorant, six are overcome with grief, and two are dead. They are no worry to me."

"I don't wish to contradict you, Master, but they may still-I mean-perhaps-well, we could use him to round them up and use them to take over. The digi-rebels would lose all hope…"

"Very well, Felina. You know what to do."

"Thank you, sire."

Gasudramon smiled suddenly. "You do realize how this will affect us, Felina?"

She nodded. Gasudramon smiled more widely, almost to himself.

"Four of twenty dead…fifteen of sixteen useless or ignorant…that leaves one out of the original twenty able to defy me. And a weak one that is, Elecmon. Nothing can go wrong now. Laugh, Chengkomon. Rejoice and praise your Master, for he is great and shall rule this world!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Gabumon got up and paced. Tentomon looked up. Palmon yawned and said, "What is it, Gabumon?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. It seems something is wrong. Matt still won't talk to me, and Agumon hasn't come back. Do you think something really could have happened to any of them?"

Biyomon laughed sardonically. "Those two-Gatomon and Patamon, I mean-think they're so cool. Being angel digimon, always defeating the bad guys. Ha! They're so big and tough; they can take care of themselves and the others. I, for one, would rather forget them."

Palmon once again tried the DigiConNetwork. She buried her roots deep into the ground, closed her eyes, and concentrated. Tentomon watched her. No. Nothing happened. The Network still wasn't up. A second later, Palmon withdrew her roots, shaking her head.

"I don't know what's happening, but it's not good."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Leomon was jolted awake by pain. The Viromon were on him again. He looked up and saw Felina, smiling broadly.

"Good news, Lion. You won't die like four of your friends. Instead, you will serve Gasudramon!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Joe threw up his hands. Tears were running down his cheeks. He couldn't get Matt or Tai to talk, and Gatomon and Patamon attacked anyone who bothered them. Izzy was finally letting his emotions through by completely ignoring his computer and instead sitting with his head in his hands. He was shaking with deep, muffled sobs. Joe didn't know what to do. Two of them were dead. What _could_ he do? He had taken to pacing, but he felt too sick with grief to continue. He sat down and vomited. He just couldn't believe it. Two of the DigiDestined were dead. How could they ever defeat Gasudramon now? Joe shook his head in shock. He had completely forgotten about Gasudramon. How had they wandered off the subject? Now he remembered. They had been so happy to be in "civilization" and be worshipped like heroes that they had forgotten about Gasudramon.

But now he remembered. And they still had to defeat Gasudramon, TK and Kari or no TK and Kari.

Joe looked around, still feeling sick. No one looked in any condition to fight. And Patamon and Gatomon wouldn't be able to digivolve without the crests and their owners. Joe stood up.

"We need to get back to Mimi and Sora. They need to know what happened." He turned and walked away. Izzy followed. Matt and Tai didn't. They both got up and looked over the cliff.

"I want them back," said Tai in a dead, hollow voice. "This stuff isn't supposed to happen."

"No," said Matt, in the same dead voice. "It's not."

They both stared for a while. Before their eyes, the rocky plain changed. Lush grass and flowers and trees spread over it, and a river worked its way across. It was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Matt and Tai both realized. This was what TK and Kari had gone too. It was home. Everyone had to go home eventually, didn't they? Of course. What did it matter if they went a little sooner?

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Gasudramon was very happy. Aviara had just brought word that the leader of the DigiDestined and his best friend were both dead. That made six of the original twenty. The remaining 13- Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Joe, Gatomon, Patamon, Gomamon, Tentomon, Palmon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Elecmon, and Yasomon- stood no chance. Those that posed a threat would be disposed of, and the others- well, Gasudramon had uses for them. Just like Leomon. Piximon was supposed to be the Assistant, but Caniinya had found reason to exterminate him and she was too useful to punish. But Felina…with the mind only a cat could own, she had figured out how to make Piximon's demise into a positive aspect. Leomon was much better for this. He, who was strong, determined, and had always fought the evil. No one could possibly suspect him, and everything would be utterly unexpected. Oh, yes. Gasudramon laughed out loud.

"Everything is perfect! This world is MINE!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Joe looked behind him. "Hey, Izzy?"

"Yeah?"

Where'd Matt and Tai go?"

Izzy looked back too. "I don't know. I thought they were following us."

Joe and Izzy ran back for the cliff, shouting "Matt! Tai! Where are you?" but they made it back without any sign of them. They went to the cliff edge and looked down again. Both gasped and stumbled back from the scene.

"They wouldn't…they couldn't…"

"But they did."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Sora sat up and rubbed her eyes. The digimon ignored her. She turned to Mimi and shook her.

"Wake up Mimi!

"What is it?" yawned Mimi. "Do our digimon see us again?"

Sora sighed. "Not yet. But I'm hungry, aren't you?"

Mimi sat up. "Oh, yes, definitely! Yasomon is so rude, he didn't even offer us anything!"

Both of them got up and left the tent. The inhabitants didn't look up. Mimi screamed at them and Sora waved, but no one noticed. Sora shrugged.

"Guess we'll have to get it ourselves then," she said, and they went off, peeking into tents. They finally found a big tent and looked inside. Yes, there were tables and benches. Sora led Mimi through the tent to the end, which looked like a kitchen. They pulled out pans and boxes of stuff. Mimi made a face at them.

"Ew! This stuff looks gross!" she exclaimed.

"Unless you want to go hungry, it's all we've got, Mimi," said Sora. She set some pots and pans on the fire and filled one with water. Then she took a couple boxes and dumped their contents in. She fried some sausages and boiled some stew. Then she dished it out into bowls and plates and the girls sat down to eat.

"Hungry, girls?" came a strange voice. Mimi choked on a sausage and Sora pounded her on the back. The speaker came closer and they saw what it was. A bizarre creature that looked like a cheetah!

"What _are_ you?" cried Mimi, having recovered from the sausage.

"I?" it said. "Why, who knows. Do you? Nor I. Perhaps I'm a figment of your imagination."

Mimi looked at it incredulously. "Huh?"

It smiled. "Suppose I was real. Would you take something I gave you?"

"Of course not!" cried Sora. "We don't know who you are!"

"Well, yes, that is true. Nor do you know what I am, or if I exist. Neither of you know if I'm digital or biological. Or if I'm alive at all. It may be that I am a machine. You have no way of knowing and I have no way of telling you."

Sora got a look on her face reminiscent of Tai. "Mind running that by me again?"

The cheetah-thing just smiled and said not a word. It reached into a pouch around its waist and pulled out a green apple. Mimi reached out for it.

"Mimi no!" Sora cried and leaped towards her. The cheetah suddenly held out a pink apple. Without realizing it, Sora took the apple. Both bit into their apple and heard their digivices start beep-beeping. Sora looked at the apple and realized it had turned black. Mimi's too. Sora yanked out her digivices and crest. Both were turning black. The cheetah was smiling.

"Do you like the new colors?" it said quietly. "Soon you will be seeing more."

Mimi grabbed him. "What kind of apple is this?!" she screamed. The cheetah smiled more broadly. "I have delivered what I was told to deliver. Now I must return." It turned and sprinted off.

Mimi clutched Sora's arm. "I…I can't see straight…Sora!" But Sora couldn't say anything. She was spiraling down a black pit.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Chitaro laughed. Gasudramon was a genius. The apples had worked perfectly. He whistled and fifty Neerkamon arrived. They were relatives of the Viromon in that they worked as a group but looked more like Motimon. They were brownish-gray and had tiny arms. They ran in dragging stretchers and put Mimi and Sora on them. Chitaro helped to strap them down and they walked off, dragging the twosome.

Before long, they came to a steep rock face. Chitaro ran his hands over it, muttering. He felt his hand touch something odd and he pushed it. The rock shuddered, a door slid open. The Neerkamon squeaked happily and pulled the girls in. Down a dark tunnel they walked. Almost immediately it became too dark to see. Chitaro felt along the tunnel and found something. A scratching sound was heard, and a minute later, a small ball of light was floating in the tunnel, illuminating Chitaro's face. The light moved. A second later flame erupted from a torch, casting an eerie orange glow five feet around him. He set off again and the Neerkamon followed.

Presently, they reached a dead end. Chitaro squinted for something. Meanwhile, Sora and Mimi had woken and were very frightened. However they were fast thinkers (how can you spend months in the digiworld and not be?) and they quickly came up with a plan. They were next to each other so Mimi rocked backward and Sora flung her head out as fast and as hard as she could. Her bucket flew off her head and connected with Chitaro's leg. He swore badly (Watch that language!) as the torch fell from his hand and went out. In the pitch-black confusion Mimi loosened one arm and whacked it about, hurting the Neerkamon. Sora rolled over and succeeded in tipping her stretcher onto one side. Mimi did the same and rolled into the wall. With her free hand she gripped the wall and pulled herself up. Suddenly, the bottom of the stretcher slid across the floor. Mimi's arm stretched out and she was finally forced to let go. She slammed onto the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Sora heard Mimi's scream and struggled to get free but felt the stretcher being pulled upright. Then the straps were pulled tighter and she heard the sounds of Mimi being grabbed. A sliding sound and a brilliant shaft of light spread over them. Sora saw Mimi, pale and with her eyes closed. Chitaro looked angry and the Neerkamon looked frightened. The door was behind Sora and she couldn't see who had opened it. Chitaro grabbed the top of her stretcher and pulled her through.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

"Oh, God!" cried Yasomon. "What are you and what are you doing here?!" Yasomon sounded rather high-pitched. The voice that answered was cold and cruel.

"I'm here on Gasudramon's orders."

"Well, er, go away!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. However…"

"Aaaahhh!!"

"That hurt, didn't it. And all you other digimon will get the same thing if you don't listen up."

"These…digimon…are…children!…How…can…you…expect…anything…from…th-AHHHHH!!!"

"Shut up. Now, little children, Gasudramon wants you to do something for him. And if you do…well, Gasudramon rewards his followers well."

"Stop it! You can't AAAHHHHHH!!!!"

"I said shut up! This is their choice not yours. Now, what he wants you to do is simple. All you have to do is take these and put them on the X's in the forest. If you do, Gasudramon will be very grateful."

"Okay!"

"No, you AAAHHHHhhhrrrrgggghh…no…"-a gasp-"…you ca…"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Izzy and Joe returned to the tent gloomy. When they got there they were gloomier still. The digimon still ignored them and Sora and Mimi had disappeared. Izzy pulled out his computer while Joe retreated into his mind to dissolve in melancholy thoughts. Izzy typed absentmindedly and found himself on the Digi-version of the Internet. Surprised, he discovered it was part of the DigiConNetwork and hadn't been deleted. Izzy quickly went to dcn.searchourworld.cmptr and searched for "Gasudramon". The info about him was surprisingly long. Izzy quickly printed it out (do NOT ask me how he got a printer) and began to read.

**_Gasudramon_**

**Type: **_Virus_****

**Picture: **_*Insert picture of an ugly dragon thing, as described earlier*_****

**History: **_Gasudramon was the first real threat to the digiworld. Compared to Gasudramon, Borto and Dorlamon combined seem like a Punimon. Gasudramon was sent to Secondary Village, but he still had plans for our world._

_When the next evil digimon arrived, Gasudramon challenged him. He won and became stronger. Afterwards he trained the digimon almost to his level. He challenged the next one as well. He lost but did not become sullen. Instead, he asked her to train him. He continued this way, and the evil digimon grew stronger than ever. They all agreed that Gasudramon should be their leader as he was the oldest and had made them all stronger. He explained his plan to them and they agreed_

_ _

Izzy stared at the piece of paper. He started to crumple it up and throw it out the window but stopped. It might somehow be useful. He folded it carefully and stuck it in his backpack. He glanced at Joe. He was white-faced, staring off into space. No, not space. He was looking at Gomamon, who was prancing around Palmon. She was laughing. How could they not notice? Izzy couldn't take it anymore.

"TK, Kari, Matt, Joe, Sora, and Mimi are dead," he said. Surely they couldn't ignore that? Gabumon turned to Biyomon and said, "Want to play cards?" Izzy stared. It seemed he had been right. The digimon couldn't hear them. Izzy took a pencil and drew a picture of a dead Tai. HE showed it to Agumon. Agumon didn't even blink. He ran right past and collided with Gomamon. Izzy turned and fell onto a bed. For the first time in his life, he gave up.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Caniinya smiled at a globe of swirling mist. Inside the globe, the mist thickened and began to contract. Caniinya whispered to it and it turned blood red. She stood up and carried the globe outside. The Viromon cheered and she laughed.

"Are you ready?' she called to the crowd as she climbed onto a stage. The replying sound was explosive. Caniinya walked to a broad, silver wall at the back of the stage.

"Lithum mithum varni golkth!" she cried and threw the globe at the wall. It shattered in midair. The pieces of the globe fell to the ground but the red mist flew on. It splattered onto the wall and stuck. A few seconds later, it began to spread. It grew and covered the whole wall. The Viromon cheered and Caniinya smirked. She turned to the glittery red mist and spoke.

"DenitSediGid eth emh w'Ohs!" The mist turned black. A picture spread from the inside out. It showed a rocky landscape, and on those rocks, the crushed bodies of two humans. The Viromon cheered louder and Caniinya chuckled. The assembly grew silent as the picture changed, again from the middle out. This time it showed two males in a tent, silent, pale, despaired. Shouts of laughter arose from the audience. The picture began to change once more. Now two bound girls could be seen, tied to a pole. Screams of approval swelled. Caniinya looked pleased. Now she spoke again.

"SigiD'deniTsed ehth era erethw?" she cried. The picture turned gray. As it did before, a scene grew from the middle of the wall. First it showed an orange dinosaur with a huge snout, slowly turning yellow-white. Agumon. The Viromon applauded. Now came a picture of Patamon and Gatomon, still sitting on the cliff, made sadder yet by the death of Matt and Tai. Everyone laughed and the picture became one of the other digimon, depressed. Caniinya grinned and cried, "Serutcip smrof taht tsim der raeppasid!" The mist turned red again and seeped together. The Chengkomon held a new globe to it and it percolated in. It stopped contracting and swirled back into silvery white.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

An annoying narrator began to speak. "In a cold dungeon in the north, we find two of our heroes struggling against the elements. Icy wind rushes in through the broken windows, bringing snow with it. Hardly any light shines down here in the deepest of the deepest. Sora and Mimi are desperate, tr-" "Ayayayayayaye!" the Author swung down on a vine, yelling a war cry. She flew to the narrator...and missed. He continued. "Trying with all their might and power to get free of the chains binding them to a pole. Who knows what plans the villain has in store for them? What vile thing will happen to them? Will we ever see these two again? Why i-"The Author swung in from the other direction, screaming "Ayayayayayayaye!" This time she succeeded in carrying away the annoying narrator. A minute passed. The Author walked back in, covered in blood. She smiled. "Let's get on with the story, shall we?"

The camera swung around to Mimi and Sora.

"Ow!" cried Mimi as Sora pulled against the ropes. "Hey, I'm on the other side here! When you pull, you push me against the pole!"

"Well, how else do you expect me to get out of this?" cried Sora. But she stopped immediately. Mimi sighed and looked down at the slack ropes. If only she had a pocketknife. Joe probably did in that bag she was supposed to be carrying. If only she had taken it! But now was not the time to feel guilty. She thought quickly. She had with her lipstick, hand sanitizer, blush, and-- a nail file! She had a nail file in her pocket!

"Sora!" she called. "Sora, I have a nail file in my pocket! Can you get it?" Sora tried to turn her head to see. She was on the opposite side of the pole.

"I think so," she said. She stretched her hand back and felt around. A moment later she found Mimi's pocket. She slipped her hand inside and found the file. Mimi took one side of it and together they slid it back and forth across the smallest part of the ropes. Eventually it broke apart and the girls fell face forward onto the floor. Mimi quickly jumped up saying, "Ew! The floor's all wet! Gross!" Sora stood up and looked around. There wasn't any door, just the cracked window. The wind howled and the glass splintered. Sora cried out in pain as glass sliced into her, cutting her skin. Mimi shrieked and tried to find cover. She ducked behind the fat pole but her arms still got cut up pretty bad. A few seconds later, it was over. Mimi cautiously looked around the pole. Sora was lying on the ground. Mimi ran over to her and turned her onto her back. She gasped. The Guardian of Love was covered in cuts. But Mimi knew Sora was not naturally red. She was bleeding badly. Even Mimi, with her extremely limited doctoring knowledge, knew that Sora would die if the bleeding didn't stop. Mimi had nothing to cover Sora with. Frantically, she looked around. The room was bare. Her hat wouldn't do anything. Mimi pulled off her gloves and wrapped them around the worse areas. Then she applied pressure. She knew this much from Joe, but that was the extent of her knowledge. There was no way they could escape now. Mimi sat back, still pushing, and sighed.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Up in the North, Gasudramon was very pleased. Sora and Mimi were now his captives. He was pushing faster than any other evil Digimon, going on the offensive rather than waiting for the Digidestined to come to him when they were strong enough. He wasn't going to give them time to regroup, oh no. Now it was time for the next phase.

"Aviara!" he shouted. The double doors of his Throne Room opened and the winged Chengkomon appeared. She walked quickly, her head down, and kneeled down before the dragon. He commanded her to get up.

"Aviara, it is time to move on. I trust Felina has told you the next part of my plan?"

"Yes, milord," said Aviara. "Chitaro has told me of his and Caniinya's contributions to your operation."

Gasudramon chuckled. "All are useful to my crusade. You, Aviara, have been a useful spy. Chitaro delivers messages. Caniinya is a prime torturer. And Felina is my trustworthy lieutenant. Anyone who does not help me, as promised in Secondary Village, is done away with. It makes this undertaking run more smoothly.

"Now, about the next stage of operation. This, I rely solely on you. Do your part well, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and you know what will happen."

Aviara was too afraid to gulp. She nodded. "Yes, Master. I will succeed in this thing you ask me to do."

"Good. Then you are dismissed. Begin immediately."

"Yes, my lord." Aviara bowed out of the room.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Joe sighed. Once again, he had fallen into a trap. He and Izzy were now hanging in a typical, old-fashioned net. They'd stepped right onto it and had immediately been hoisted into the air. Swinging back and forth, crushed against a kid with a laptop in his backpack, was not very comfortable. Already Joe was starting to feel sick. Izzy was muttering and struggling to get his computer out. That was Izzy; before all else fails, get the computer. Also, When in doubt; find a working computer. Great. Now Joe was making up quotes.

"What next?" he said. A second later he realized he'd said it out loud. Izzy turned his head backwards and to the side to see him.

"What is it?" he asked. "You're not going to throw up, are you?"

"Oh, so NOW you're developing a sense of humor!" cried Joe. "Why in a crisis?"

"Let me look at this logically," Izzy began. Joe groaned but he continued. "In other crisis's worse, for example, when we discovered what happened to four others, I had no sense of humor. Now, you think I am developing one. That is very interesting. However, that was not comedy. I was simply stating a question. Now, if it were that…" Joe cut Izzy off by pointing. Something off was coming towards them. Izzy recognized it as one of the Chengkomon they had seen on the night Tor Kasa fell. They watched it silently come closer, and Joe burned red, humiliated at being found this way. Izzy, however immediately hissed, "We're in big trouble now!" "As if I couldn't notice," Joe retorted. The Chengkomon laughed and its voice was loud and obnoxious, yet high-pitched. It was a girl. Joe nudged Izzy and whispered, "Bet it's name is Weremon." "Shhh!" Izzy whispered, his eyes on the girl. She was covered in light gray fur and her ears were perched on top of her head. She came up to them and smiled pleasantly. Then she laughed again, cold and malicious. Izzy shuddered suddenly. Joe, sensing Izzy's unease, began to shift uncomfortably.

"Shh…" said the were creature. "There is no reason to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to hurt you…yet." She smiled, showing pointy canines. She began to circle the net, speaking softly. "No one yet realizes it, but you two are powerful together." Izzy and Joe said nothing; they seemed mesmerized. She continued. "Knowledge…and Reliability. Do you have any idea how useful Reliable Knowledge is? Sure, Sincere Love and Courageous Hope are powerful, but you two…nothing is more useful than Knowledge, did you know that? And add Reliability, so the Knowledge is always there when you need it…it would be quite difficult to overcome you. Obviously-"

The digimon stopped short. A blue-yellow dog was standing beneath the net, growling and giving off sparks. It was—

"Perromon!" yelped Izzy. The digimon glanced up, wagged its tail, and then faced the creature again.

"You not hurt Izzy! Perromon stop you!" he barked. The Chengkomon just laughed. Then she squinted at him and pursed her lips.

"What happened?" she asked. "Why aren't you in another SubDimension? It is impossible for Lord Gasudramon to make a mistake!"

Perromon concentrated and suddenly yelled, "Dominating Flash!" He almost seemed to blow up, and the light was so bright Izzy and Joe both had to cover their eyes. When the radiance subsided, the Chengkomon looked dazed. She blinked her eyes and looked at Perromon.

"What is going on?" she questioned. Perromon answered immediately, saying, "You attacked. Hurt. I scare off digimon who hurt you. You my slave remember? You do what I say."

The Chengkomon frowned. She smiled and said, "I remember now. What do you want me to do, master?"

Izzy and Joe stared as Perromon began giving orders. The Chengkomon, who identified herself as Caniinya, lowered the two to the ground gently and cut open the net.

She explained how Gasudramon had put groups of important people into different SubDimensions to cause certain things. The DestinedDigimon were in one, the DigiDestined in another, the inhabitants of the PVC(Primary Village Camp) in yet another, and so on. The Dimensions prevented the victims from seeing what others in separate Dimensions were doing. When they though Agumon had been playing, in truth, he had been dead for five hours. When she got to this part, Izzy gasped and Joe covered his face.

Perromon stopped Caniinya and asked what she did. She described how she had tortured Piximon and killed him, and how she had found Agumon. She went on to explain how Chitaro had gotten Sora and Mimi, and told about the visions Gasudramon had given TK and Kari to make them jump over the edge of the cliff. Perromon stopped her before she got to Felina. Caniinya didn't reveal what was happening to Leomon at the moment. And that is what caused the destruction that followed.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Mimi sank to floor next to Sora, leaning against a wall. Sora was still unconscious after almost three days. She'd woken up a few times, but only to groan, and then she had fainted again. Mimi was no medical genius, and she'd never paid attention in Science, but she knew that if they didn't get food or water very soon, they would die. A sudden premonition told Mimi they had two hours. Shaking, Mimi looked around again, searching for a way out. She's cracked off the rest of the glass on the window so it posed no threat, but the window was still too small and sharp to crawl through. Snapping off the glass had cut her hands, as well, and on her raw palms she wouldn't have gotten far anyway.

Her dress was tattered because she'd ripped pieces off the bottom to bandage Sora. The guardian of Love was wrapped with pink all over-- legs, face, arms, hands, stomach. But now Mimi was cold. She wrapped her arms around herself. A door slid open and Mimi looked up. As she did, she was hit with a wave of pain, and her vision blurred. She felt herself swirling down a black hole…

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Aviara soared high over the land. Down below, Puppetmon and Demidevimon were ordering some Veggiemon around. They were chopping trees, though Cherrymon didn't look too happy about it. The Chengkomon weren't, either, but it was Gasudramon's orders and everyone followed orders.

She flapped her wings and rose higher. She had to clear the mountains ahead. Ten minutes later, she made it safely over the top and set her sights on Infinite Mountain. That was her destination. She landed lightly on the peak and climbed down painfully. Finally, she found a doorbell poking out of a hole in the ground. Aviara didn't ring it; she just jumped down.

As she landed she absorbed her weight expertly, and with practiced motions, walked down a hall that gradually got dimmer and dimmer. At the end she opened a door. On the other side was a swirl of purple, blue, and black. She heard an insane laugh come from a door far away. Aviara pushed herself into the abyss and floated towards the door. She grabbed the knob as she passed and pulled it open. Inside were shelves of odd-looking things. She walked down the aisles and came to yet another door, where the laughter was at its peak. She pushed it open and the laughter stopped abruptly. Yasomon looked up and scowled.

"What are you doing here, Chengko? Leave me in my peace!" he cried. Aviara smiled sweetly and walked towards Yasomon slowly.

"I am Aviara, Yasomon. I'm working for a new lord," she said quietly. Yasomon sneered.

"I did too, at one point," he shrieked. "Pah! He didn't pay me, and Myotismon couldn't even defeat those pesky humans. I had one here, I did, but Demidevimon distracted me. While he tried to steal my items, that DigiDestined escaped! Ooooooh! I was SO mad!"

Aviara stood there, her hands behind her back, looking at Yasomon piteously. "I'm sympathetic," she whispered, "but I have my orders. And if you won't cooperate with Master Gasudramon, I'll have to do something neither of us would like." She looked sadly at Yasomon. Yasomon sighed.

"Oh, alright!" he bellowed. "What do you want?!"

Aviara smiled amiably. "Nothing, really. Just…you."

Yasomon looked at her like she was crazy. "What?" he spat. "What are you talking about?"

"Gasudramon is always looking for allies…" she whispered.

"Allies! Ha! Slaves! Servants, at the least! Look at you! Doing his bidding when you could be enjoying yourself with the others!" Yasomon spat again. "I would rather die than be his 'ally'."

"Then so it shall be."

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Izzy, Joe, Perromon, and Caniinya were back at the camp; Caniinya said she could destroy one of the SubDimensional barriers. She had explained it, but only Izzy had understood of course. 

She was doing something very weird. Suddenly, there was a loud **pthoopsud!** and everything changed. The digimon were in new positions and looked very startled. Tentomon and Gomamon ran over to Izzy and Joe and began shouting. When they got a reaction, they were so happy that everyone danced.

Suddenly, Izzy asked, "Where's Agumon?" The digimon looked uneasy.

"Well," said Gabumon, "he went out to look for TK and Kari…" "But he hasn't come back yet!" cried Biyomon. Joe looked worried, but now Palmon asked, "Where's everybody else?"

Joe looked at Izzy. Izzy looked away. Neither of them wanted to tell the digimon what had happened to them.

Instead, Joe said, "Mimi and Sora went out while we were taking a walk. We don't know where they went."

It was the truth, really. They had been walking through the woods and now they didn't know where Mimi and Sora were. But they did know where TK, Kari, Tai, and Matt were. They were extremely hesitant to say. However they saw that only Gabumon would be deeply, deeply affected. Gatomon and Patamon were still crying and Agumon wasn't there. So they said, very quickly, what had happened to them. Everyone dissolved into tears.

Caniinya, confused, sat down and began comforting everyone. Soon they had recovered from the initial loss. They were ready to free Mimi and Sora and avenge the others.


	3. Rapid Movement

(5)A New Evil(5)

The remaining DigiDestined and the digimon set out to find Mimi and Sora. No one was very hopeful. Only two digimon were able to digivolve—Gomamon and Tentomon. Perromon was powerful and Caniinya would do whatever they wanted, but that meant only four digimon. Izzy, Joe, and the five other digimon would only be in the way in a big fight. But each was determined to help in some way.

They didn't have any idea where to look, so they headed off to the pavilion to look for clues. At first they found nothing. Then they noticed pans and cold food; two bitten black apples lay on the floor. They finally came to a conclusion: Mimi and Sora had come and cooked something to eat. Someone or something came and gave them the apples. They ate the apples. They must have lost consciousness then, because in the dirt were prints of tiny creatures and two long marks, like something being dragged. Excited but filled with nervous anticipation, they set off following the marks.

They came at last to a huge cliff. The tracks led right into it. But Izzy noticed some odd scuffling prints, like someone had been searching. With carefully coordinated steps, he traced what the other had done and at long last decided he knew what to do.

As the others watched in awe, he placed his hand on a part of rock and pushed. All of them, even Izzy, gaped as a giant hole slid open. Izzy looked at Joe. Joe looked at Izzy. Both looked at Perromon. Perromon looked at Biyomon, Gabumon, Gomamon, Palmon, Tentomon, Patamon, and Gatomon. Everyone shrugged. Caniinya, realizing they weren't getting anywhere, walked into the cave. Each one looked around at the others. Joe sighed and followed Caniinya. One by one, they filed into the hole and down a long tunnel.

Caniinya recognized this place and, on orders from Perromon, showed them how to find the torch, light it, and open the door on the far side of the tunnel.

When the door slid open, they saw that they were in a stone corridor. Along each side of the corridor were stone doors inlaid with metal bars. There were no windows and the doors were too thick to hear through. Gabumon voiced what they were all thinking.

"How do we know which one has Sora and Mimi? It would take forever to open each of these!"

No one answered. But no one had too, for a moment later a loud cackling laugh echoed through the hall. In a brilliant flash of light, they felt wind whipping by, saw a flurry of color, felt soft sand sliding through the fingers/paws, smelled sweet roses and rotten garbage. The light subsided and they realized they were not in a stone hall, but in a small chamber.

The walls were gold with silver hangings, curtains, tassels, and strings. A rich embroidered maroon carpet padded the floor. There was no furniture in the room, but it was obvious that they would be here a while. They saw no visible door, and when they pulled open the curtains by tugging the strings, they saw that they were at least ten stories up and they were in a cold place. Snow blew fretfully and ice coated the panes.

The group gathered in the center of the room to discuss.

"Well," said Izzy, opening his laptop, "I have connection. I can reach the Internet, but not the DigiConNetwork."

"So?" asked Gomamon. "What's that mean?"

"It means," replied Izzy, "that I can send e-mail to the real world but not to anyone in this world."

Joe slumped. "So no help then," he said. "Anyone who could lend us a hand is here"—"Or dead," muttered Gatomon—"so we're on our own."

Caniinya looked up, smiling. "Not entirely." Perromon seemed confused. Izzy murmured something to him and Perromon quickly relayed this. The Chengkomon laughed openly and proceeded to explain her plan.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Satisfied, Aviara took off from Infinite Mountain. In the distance, she spied the remains of Spiral Mountain. With a large package clutched in her claws and a bag dangling from her hands, she flew somewhat jerkily to Spiral Mountain. She landed on the mountain and released the bag. She opened it and unceremoniously dumped out Vademon. He picked himself up and dusted himself off. Glaring at Aviara, he suddenly reached for the package. Laughing, Aviara leaped into the air, holding the parcel just out of his reach. Infuriated, he ran across the top of the mountain and suddenly fell short. Looming out of a dark building were Puppetmon, Piedmon, Gigamon, and Seadramon. They leered at him as he scrambled backward. They were uglier than VenoMyotismon! Aviara dove down in front of him and handed the packet to Piedmon. Smirking at Vademon, he ripped it open and let the wrapping fall. In his hands was a digivices, swirled with pink, green, blue, and gray. Chuckling softly, he pocketed it and glanced at Vademon.

Aviara, noticing the glance, nodded agreeably. Screaming, Vademon clambered back. Seadramon shot forward and wrapped his neck around Vademon. He pulled him back and dumped him Gigamon. Puppetmon leapt up and slammed a foot on Vademon. Shrieking horribly, Vademon struggled to get away. But Gigamon turned and walked back in, followed by Seadramon. Piedmon grinned at Aviara.

"I trust the invasion is going well?" he asked.

"Of course," replied Aviara. "I hope the gift will assist you in making Lord Gasudramon's campaign successful."

Piedmon laughed. "I will have fun doing it, do not worry of that."

Pleased, Aviara jumped off the mountain, spread her wings, and glided away. Piedmon eyed his new "toy" happily. With this, he could destroy the remaining DigiDestined, as they once destroyed him…

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Without warning, a hole appeared in the middle of the room. It began to expand. Digimon and human scrambled towards the edges of the chamber, trying to avoid it.

"Where are they?" cried Izzy as he tripped and stumbled on a bit of carpet.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Caniinya, watching Tentomon push Izzy back away from the gaping hole. "They should've been here three minutes ago!"

"They're LATE!" Joe bellowed. Palmon and Gatomon began to climb up the curtains as the edge of the hole advanced. Tentomon, Biyomon, and Patamon flew above it, diving in to help the others climb things. The digimon were able to perch on the curtains and curtain rods, but Izzy and Joe could not. They were too heavy.

Izzy scrambled onto a windowsill and gripped the sides of the indent. There was about a foot of space left between the wall and the hole. Joe was balancing on two perpendicular curtain rods, hands clutching the lights above him. As the hole grew, Izzy glanced behind him. Dark shapes were looming near. With a shriek, Izzy realized what they were, and jumped clear as five forms burst through the window. Izzy screamed as he fell into the maw—and abruptly stopped. Izzy was holding tight to his backpack. He buzzed to a different sill and deposited Izzy on it.

"Ahh!" cried Gomamon as the curtain he was clutching began to rip. His efforts only worsened it, because of his huge claws. He fell backwards into the hole, which had taken up the entire room.

"Gomamon!" cried Tentomon, grabbing him. But he was too tired. His wing motion died out and they both fell, screaming, into the hole.

"No!" cried Izzy and Joe at the same time, leaning towards it. Suddenly winged figures caught them. Looking up, they saw Chengkomon holding them. There were five; two were holding Izzy and Joe, one was holding Caniinya, and the remaining two had Gatomon, Palmon, and Gabumon clinging to them. Patamon and Biyomon were flying, supporting Perromon. The Chengkomon and the flying DestinedDigi's flew out the window and deposited everyone in the snow.

For the first time, Joe got a good look at everyone. The five winged Chengkomon were all different but resembled each other in that they had wings and talons.

One had reddish wings and brown hair and a brown tight-fitting suit that covered his whole body. The one next to him was smaller, a light brown-tan, and her wings were streaked with silver-gray. The other small Chengkomon was brown all over but her dress was red. The largest was brown, white, and gray, and had red hair. The last was slightly smaller and was completely black with cunning eyes.

"Red-tailed hawk, song sparrow, robin, woodpecker, and raven!" Izzy exclaimed. They looked highly offended. The crow opened his mouth.

"Excuse me, but I'm Worcen, not Raven! And these, whom you referred to incorrectly, are Kwader, Worrapsi, Nibora, and Kepdoo!"

Palmon stared, not noticing the cold. "Aren't Chengkomon evil?" she blurted out. Gabumon stiffened but Kepdoo, the "woodpecker," laughed.

"So we are," he chuckled. "Why should you not think that?"

Biyomon scoffed. "Because you just saved us!" It was Kwader's turn to laugh.

"We did not save you!" he cried. "We were acting on orders!" It was obvious they didn't understand, so Nibora elaborated.

"That hole was not intended for you," she said mockingly. "It was for the only ones who were a threat: Gomamon and Tentomon. They are the only ones capable of digivolving." She paused. "Rather, WERE the only ones capable of digivolving." She chortled and continued. "Caniinya cleverly made you believe we were here to rescue you so you wouldn't resist by claiming we would save you. Her "plan" to free you was the Dark Dragon's plan to capture you. Now the only dangers to us are dead, and you are all prisoners of our Master, ruler of the Digiworld." She smirked, obviously thinking her Lord was quite clever.

Perromon, however, did not. "Caniinya mine!" he protested. Caniinya slapped him from behind, sending him sprawling across the snow.

"No," she said indignantly, "I was "yours" only for a short while. Then my Master freed me so I could continue to do his bidding." She smiled happily, but there was an evil glint in her eyes.

Izzy ran to Perromon and picked him up. He turned to Caniinya, angry.

"You have no right to do that!" he yelled furiously.

"So?" taunted Caniinya, her fangs flashing dangerously.

"Why, I outta—" Izzy charged Caniinya, Perromon in his arms, but a leg stuck out from the side tripped him and he fell face-first into the snow. Perromon had fortunately ended up on Izzy's side and not beneath him. But he felt someone picking him up.

He lifted his head and spat out snow. "Put him down!" he cried, seeing Worcen dangling the dog by his tail.

"Alright," he said, his eyes mischievous. With a backhand gesture, he sent Perromon flying through the air to smack, hard, into the building they had left. All the Chengkomon laughed; no wait, only five were laughing. Looking around, Joe noticed the little song sparrow digimon, Worrapsi. She was standing a ways away from them, her head down. As Perromon fell into unconsciousness, Joe noticed a tear streaked across her face. Persistently he tried to look closer, but suddenly Worrapsi looked up, and noticed his stares. She hardened her features immediately, but her eyes were soft and wet.

Joe went reeling forward. Laughter rang in his ears. He put a hand to a sore spot on the back of his head. He winced as he touched it and he heard laughter again. Something sharp and painful cut into his back like a whip and he fell forward. His hair was grabbed and he was cruelly yanked up by it. He let out a cry of agony as he was pulled to his feet.

The Chengkomon gathered around and grabbed the digimon and the humans again. They flew off. There was no resistance.

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Surveying the last remaining "resistance" from the silvery ball, Gasudramon chuckled quietly. He knew they had given in. He had thought of simply banishing them to the "Real World", as it was called, but knew that was not enough. Gennai, the fool, would bring them back as always. No, he had to be sure they were gone for good. And he knew how to do that. Certainly he could simply use his Dark Annihilation and do them off in an instant, but that was too simple, to quick, for the Dragon's tastes. It would be much more dramatic if they were killed by one they though of as a friend…

Gasudramon snapped his claws and Tabira hopped into the room, her long ears drooping in respect, but she couldn't keep the bounce out of her step. She prostrated before her master and awaited his command.

"Bring out the Lion," he ordered, "and take him to the Coliseum. Take the DigiDestined and their friend in first and leave them their for a few minutes. Then allow him whatever entrance he may choose."

Tabira nodded and skipped out of the room. She went immediately down a long hall and stepped into a tiny room. The doors slid shut behind her. This was an invention of Felina's—Tabira knew it was safe but was always nervous.

She turned around and pressed a switch on the wall. A second later, there was a dreadful lurch and she felt herself dropping at an alarming rate. The room slowed and with a ^Bing^ the doors slid open. She leaped out of the room and bounded down a dark hall. She slipped into a room to the side and proceeded to a door. She opened it and whistled shrilly. A huge dark creature loomed out of the shadows. She turned and pranced back the way she'd come. The shape followed her, all the way up the tiny room (Felina called it a jump-start) and through many rooms and corridors until she came to another small room. On the opposite side was an opening. Tabira repeated Gasudramon's instructions out loud and left.

Now she hopped in a semi-circle, through a curving hall. She came to a room identical to the one she'd left the creature in, but reversed like a mirror. There was a pitiful assortment of creatures in it. She peeked in through the window first. Two of the beasts were very tall, taller than Tabira, and they looked almost identical to each other. One had spiked red-brown hair and possessed a green bag on his back. He was sitting on the floor and moving his fingers quickly on some kind of board.

The other had short navy-blue hair that seemed combed forward. He was staring into space.

Scattered around the room were a Perromon and the legendary Gabumon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Biyomon.

Tabira was nervous. She had heard so much about these…although the other Digimon had assured her that they couldn't digivolve without their digipartners, she wasn't so sure. They'd done an awful lot that had seemed impossible. They'd beaten VenoMyotismon, Devimon, and even all the Dark Masters.

Timidly, she opened the door. Everyone looked up at her. Sweating from ear to furry foot, she stepped into the room, for once not bouncing.

"Er-" she mumbled, "you're supposed to—to go out now—into the coliseum…'cuz Gasudramon says ya haftoo…" Even to her it sounded bad.

The one with brown-red hair glanced at her, seemingly uninterested. The blue-haired human looked at him. She saw a flicker in his eye. The digimon looked anxious and began to move away from her.

"No!" she cried and jumped forward.

"Poison Ivy!"

Tabira found herself wrapped up, unable to move. Looking back, she saw fearfully that Palmon, whom she hadn't seen, had been next to the door out of her sight. She then realized, as Gabumon closed the door with a snap, that the flicker had been a wink. These tricky Digidestined were clever! They'd set her up. She'd fallen victim to a desperate plan. Knowing she would probably be killed or hurt, as she was a hostage, Tabira began to cry.

"What do you want?" she wept. The two humans looked at each other and shifted uncomfortably. They'd obviously expected a fight or defiance. But she had never been like that; Gasudramon had easily overpowered her and he was more aggressive, dominant, and commanding than she. Tabira would have liked to live quietly, away with others like her, but she'd been employed in Gasudramon's force and she was too cowardly to defy him. She knew he would kill her.

But that didn't matter anymore. She was at their mercy, not Gasudramon's. But if she was rescued, she knew she would die for her cowardice and stupidity. She'd allowed herself to be captured; she was a koshinuke, no use to anyone.

Izzy pulled Joe back. Everyone but Palmon, who was holding the Chengkomon, followed. They began a hushed conversation.

"Whattaya think?" asked Izzy. Joe looked perplexed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what should we do? This one seems very timid; not at all like the others."

Gabumon broke in. "She looks like a rabbit Chengkomon. They are very shy and I suspect this one is not happy working for Gasudramon."

"Maybe Gasudramon is forcing the Chengkomon to work for him!" piped up Biyomon. Izzy nodded.

"That's what I was thinking," he replied. "Maybe we can use this to our advantage."

"We can bargain," agreed Joe, nodding. "Offer her freedom in exchange for her help. I bet Gasudramon doesn't care enough to sacrifice us for this one anyway. Probably just an errand runner."

Izzy concurred. He looked up at Gatomon. She laughed for the first time in a long time and walked to the Chengkomon. This would be fun.

"Chengkomon—" "My name is Tabira!" she cried without thinking. She seemed to mentally reprimand herself and a tear flowed out of her eye. Gatomon started again.

"Tabira, we need a little favor."

"Anything, just let me go!" sobbed the Chengkomon.

"Alright. Help us get out of here and we will set you free."

"I shouldn't! I don't have to! I could let you hold me hostage and you would still face Nyuraionmon!" She winced suddenly, and sagged. Gatomon realized she had an advantage.

"A new digimon? Well, how about if we wait till we meet Nyuraionmon, then feed you to him?"

Tabira tearfully shook her head.

"Well; help us then."

Tabira nodded chokingly.

Joe nodded to Izzy and Palmon let Tabira go. She collapsed, shaking. She'd let several secrets slip and now she was betraying her master. But she couldn't go back on her word; Chengkomon were creatures of honor, especially her kind. "Nyuraionmon means 'new lion monster'," she explained. "He—he is…is…" Tabira waved her hand in a frantic gesture, her throat choked up. She couldn't say who he was.

Patamon understood. "Will you go with us to meet him?"

Tabira nodded simply and indicated the door. Gabumon wrenched it open and Tabira followed him out. The others trailed along behind. Everyone but Tabira gasped. The Coliseum! The door slammed shut behind them and Tabira's dry eyes began to well with water. She turned and fled to the edge, obviously knowing this place well. Palmon followed her with her eyes and saw her take a seat in the stands. It seemed this was their fight. 

The spread out slightly, their hearts quivering nervously. Without their partners, they were nothing. Izzy took a moment to dwell on this.

It seemed Gasudramon was a future-planning mastermind. They had underestimated him horribly and were paying the consequences. Expecting a pushover idiot like the evil Digimon before, they had instead gotten a cruel, clever, accurate digimon. He had gotten help somehow from all the other evils and used his power to its full potential.

Abruptly there was a loud roar. A black digimon jumped down from a pillar and growled. He was black and gray, walked on two feet, and had a mane. His eyes were startlingly blue to the rest of him. Biyomon shrieked. "Leomon!"

*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*

Shaking with fright, Tabira sat in the stands, watching what was happening. Nyuraionmon was there…and when he finished with the Digidestined, he would take her. She had had authority over him as a messenger of Gasudramon but now he could do what he wanted with her. She slipped of her seat to hide behind it, leaning against the bench behind her. Her eyes frantically watching the proceedings, she worried. What future did she have now?She watched as Biyomon realized what Nyuraionmon used to be. She felt bad; Leomon had been nice but Gasudramon had wanted to kill him. Felina had prevented that by offering to change him into Nyuraionmon. Piximon was supposed to become Nyusamuraimon or Nyumomoiromon but Caniinya had killed him. So Leomon got it, and now he was a completely different creature—a "new lion monster". And a monster he was.

Nyuraionmon lifted his head to the brightly glowing moon and roared. Gabumon, Palmon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Biyomon made ready for the fight. Biyomon and Patamon launched themselves into the air, one on each side of Nyuraionmon, and attacked.

"Spiral Twister! Rah!"

"Boom Bubble! Pah!"

Gabumon leaned forward and sent forth a stream of icy blue.

"Blue Blaster!"

Gatomon leapt towards the digimon, claws flashing.

"Lightning Claw!"

Palmon ran behind him and flung out her vines, pinning his arms to his body.

"Poison Ivy!"

Nyuraionmon punched his paws in each direction, breaking free and knocking both Patamon and Biyomon out of the air. Snatching hold of some vines, he yanked them to him and beat Palmon until she was unconscious.

Throughout Gabumon's attack, he spun Palmon above his head by her vines and threw her. She slammed into a pillar and fell to the ground. Patamon and Biyomon rushed to her. Nyuraionmon grabbed some vines and tied Patamon and Biyomon to them. He slung them over a pillar, Palmon hanging limply on one side and Patamon and Biyomon dangling over the other.

He spun around and opened his mouth.

"Sinister Wail!" he snarled. He roared and a dark green puff blew from his mouth and formed into a brown-and-green creature. It cackled and became a bladed wheel. It ran into Gabumon, bringing blood, then became a gray vapor and surrounded him. He fell asleep. The vapor floated to the struggling Patamon and Biyomon and put them to sleep as well. Then it dissipated.

Gatomon had taken advantage of this opening. She leapt onto Nyuraionmon's head and slashed.

"Lightning Claw!"

Nyuraionmon lowered his head quickly and charged at a pillar. Gatomon was crushed between him and the pillar. He drew back.

"Fist of the Shade King!" he bellowed and threw out a punch. A black lion's head emerged and flew swiftly at Gatomon. She ducked and the pillar blew apart.

"Never mess with Champion!" she cried as she dove to the side. Nyuraionmon's eyes went out of focus, confused. Even as Leomon, he hadn't known that Gatomon, looking like a Rookie, was actually a Champion. This truth was confirmed as her powerful Lightning Claw attack bashed his head in. He fell over, a large dent in his skull. His cranium compressed like Gatomon had been, he slipped into unconsciousness.

Joe and Izzy raced to the pillar and paused. All three digimon were well above them. Joe began to climb up Gatomon jumped onto Izzy's head as he climbed. When Joe got too scared to go further, Gatomon jumped like only she can and landed on Joe's shoulder. She hopped onto his head and jumped again. She grabbed a vine just above Palmon and began to climb. Joe and Izzy backed down while Gatomon climbed. She reached the top and gritted her teeth. Then she started to pull up Palmon. When Palmon was perched on top, the vines automatically contracted, most of the strain gone. Gatomon held the short middle of the vines, between Palmon and Patamon & Biyomon, and jumped off the pillar. Joe and Izzy caught them and set them carefully on the ground.

Up in the stands, Tabira watched in amazement. Nyuraionmon—defeated! It was amazing! But her was her chance. She bounded down to the coliseum floor and over to Nyuraionmon. She smacked him a few times. He was injured badly. She looked nervously at the Digidestined; they were immersed in each other and didn't notice her. She bounced frantically to the far door of the coliseum and skipped inside. She turned and pushed a button on the wall. A glass cover popped off and a lever stuck out. She pulled the lever and an alarm sounded; this was Felina's idea and invention. Tabira let out a sigh of relief, for help would be coming soon. She spun as the opposite door flung open and Myotismon entered. He went past her into the coliseum. She heard a shout.

"Grizzly Wing!" There were the flutters and shrieks of many bats.

"Crimson Lightning!" There was a crack like thunder and the screams of the digimon.

Tabira peeked out the door. Myotismon's Crimson Lightning was holding the digimon painfully. The bats from the Grizzly Wing were carrying Izzy and Joe. The Digidestined were born to her door. At the same time an Airdramon was descending, LadyDevimon on board. She dumped Nyuraionmon onto the Airdramon and hopped on behind. The digimon lifted into the air and flew off to heal the dark Lion.

Tabira let out a strangled cry and ducked into a closet as Izzy, Joe, Gatomon, Palmon, Gabumon, Patamon, and Biyomon were carried through the small room. She hid her eyes. She knew what their faces would be saying silently: "You tricked us! You betrayed us! We will be killed because of you!" Tabira couldn't take much more of that. She was a failure to everyone.


	4. The End is Near

(8)More Chengkomon(8)

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Joe, stop it."

Wham! Wham! Wham!

"Joe!"

Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

"JOE!"

Joe stopped slamming his head into the wall long enough to look at Izzy. He was glaring. Joe sighed and slid to the floor. He had though the head-banging would help, but all it did was give him a headache. He sorely missed Gomamon and his wisecrack mouth.

He looked around the gloomy cell he and Izzy were in. It was stone but had two comfortable beds. Izzy was sitting on one but was doing nothing. They had been stripped of all but their clothing. Joe didn't have his bag and Izzy didn't have his backpack or laptop.

They didn't know where their digimon where. Most likely they were in another cell, either being starved, tortured, or interrogated. Izzy shuddered to think of poor Tentomon; he knew that his digimon would hold out as long as he could, and probably die.

Joe turned and rattled the iron bars across the southern side of their cell. Suddenly, he noticed something.

(This is OOC mostly, but I don't care. It's rather funny. It's very long, so it's also in play form, but it's completely made up of dialogue. Enjoy!)

Joe: Hey, Izzy!

Izzy: Yeah?

Joe: Got a hairpin?

Izzy: …

Joe: Well?

Izzy: …

Joe: Izzy!

Izzy: Okay, okay, I have a hairpin.

Joe: You do?

Izzy: Yes, I wear one! Alright already!

Joe: Omigosh! Izzy wears a hairpin!

Izzy: Shut up!

Joe: Hehe!

Izzy: What did you want the frickin' hairpin for?!

Joe: Heh heh. Give it to me.

Izzy: No!

Joe: Why?

Izzy: 'Cause…well…because it holds some of my hair!

Joe: Hehe!

Izzy: Humph.

Joe: Give it to me, Izzy.

Izzy: No!

Joe: Do you want to get out of here or not?

Izzy: Sigh...

Joe: Izzy.

Izzy: Okay, okay, fine. Here.

Joe: Geez, Izzy! I thought you used mousse!

Izzy: …

Joe: Heh heh!

Izzy: Hey, I'm not a Tai or Matt or one of their wannabes!

Joe: Oh, sure, uh-huh…

Izzy: Just hurry up and finish!

Joe: Giggle!

Izzy: Arghh…

Joe: There!

Izzy: Hey, you picked the lock!

Joe: Here's your substitute hair gel, Izzy!

Izzy: It is NOT hair gel!

Joe: I know, it's a substitute!

Izzy: What's wrong with hairpins?

Joe: Girls wear them, not guys!

Izzy: Yeah, well-

Joe: Hey! Give that back!

Izzy: Hah! I knew you had a hairpin too! Oh, what's this? Three hairpins?

Joe: If I shut up about your hairpin, will you shut up about mine?

Izzy: Of course, Joe. That is logically beneficial to both of us and should save us a great deal of shame.

Joe: He's back to his normal self…

(Okay, let's get back on normal track here…if that can be found in my fics.)

Joe gently pushed the door open and winced as it creaked loudly. Izzy glared at him, still seething about the hairpin, though his hair looked perfectly normal now. He shoved past Joe and out into a corridor. He recognized it as the one they had been in when the laugh and bright flash of light had taken them to the holey room. Joe followed nervously as Izzy led the way. They went through a series of turns, twisting deeper and deeper in, as it was the only way to go. Finally they came to the center. There was a door in front of them. It looked like a…

"Elevator!" cried Joe. He leapt forward and before Izzy could caution him he had pushed the button. The doors sprang open and both, Joe shrugging to Izzy, walked in. They turned about and Izzy pushed the button for the ground level; they were in the third basement.

But the elevator slowed and dinged at the first basement. The doors slid open, the boys watching apprehensively.

"Oh!" cried a Chengkomon. Joe stepped back in shock at the pretty digimon. Her orange hair hung loosely about her waist and she was wearing the skimpiest outfit he'd ever seen. She quickly regained her composure and walked calmly into the elevator, pressing the Door Close button before the two could do or say anything. She then pushed the button for the top floor; there were 57 floors, not counting the basements. The girl settled herself in a chair in the corner and fixed the two with her gaze.

"We're going to be here a long time," she said. "Sit down."

The boys found two chairs in their corner and uneasily sank into them.

"So," she said, folding her hands in her lap. "So."

Izzy shifted restlessly.

"You are Digidestined."

Joe removed his gaze from the girl and looked into his lap.

"I see you are not comfortable with me." That darn Chengko was still at it! "But you'd better get comfortable, 'cuz this ride'll last five minutes and I won't be leaving then!"

Both jerked up to look at her. Joe caught up his courage and used it.

"Why should we talk to you?" he answered. "You're against us and anything we say can and will be used against us."

The Chengko smiled. "You sound like the cops, but you forgot 'in a court of law'".

Izzy gaped, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. The girl laughed and stuck out her paw.

"My name is Felina. Remember it." Joe shook unconsciously, realized what he was doing, and yanked his hand away. "So," she continued, "You want to defeat Gasudramon and save the digital world, ne?"

"Of course we do!" said Izzy. "It's our duty as Digidestined to do what is asked, expected, and prophesied of us.

Felina shook her head. "That's just it," she said. "You haven't been asked, no one expects anything, and there is no prophecy. You have no reason to do what you are doing. There—"

There was a thud, bang, and an explosion above them. Izzy felt the floor drop beneath him. He found himself and the other two suspended above the floor of the elevator, falling with it. Felina pulled herself to the button panel, ripped off some metal covering, and began rapidly punching buttons and pulling wires. Meanwhile they continued to drop.

Joe heard a shatter and let out a strangled scream as the side of the elevator was torn off. The wind whipped past him. They were falling down a clear elevator chute and out beyond it was a huge factory. Numemon and Warumonzaemon patrolled the catwalks, doing tests and stirring large vats of sludge. Several were dropping things into various vats and recording the reactions, such as disintegration, steaming, and freezing.

Joe wouldn't have worried much about that except suddenly the side of the elevator chute cracked and shattered. Now the wind was worse and pulling him out. Felina turned from the panel. She grabbed Izzy and Joe under her arms and leapt with feline grace from the elevator.

She landed with cat-like agility on a catwalk (no pun intended) and dropped the boys. Izzy gasped and stumbled back from her. As he did, he hit the rail, intended for the Numemon less than half his height. He flipped backwards over the rail as Joe screamed girlishly. Warumonzaemon yelled and the Numemon rushed to encircle the vat Izzy had fallen into. Immediately they began to record what was happening to Izzy. Here is a copy of what the most accurate Numemon wrote:

1 minute: no reaction

2 minute: no reaction

3 minute: Felina jumped in2 vat

4 minute: no reaction

5 minute: surfacing&loud sputtering of boy&Felina

6 minute: boy2 regurgitating in2 vat

7 minute: boy1&Felina climbing out

8 minute: boy1&boy2&Felina R cleaned off

9 minute: reactions are tested

10 minute: no reactions; creation of sludge abandoned

Izzy and Felina were cleaned off while Joe gaped at Felina. Finally he got up some nerve.

"Why did you save him?"

Felina looked as though she were about to say something like it was obvious but stopped herself in time. Instead, she replied carefully, "My master the Dark Dragon would be angry if I did not take you both alive."

Joe knew she was lying but said nothing. Instead he looked at Izzy. The muck was mostly off but he seemed to have lost his dignity. While busily gathering it, he said, to cover up the silence, "What went wrong with the elevator?"

Felina shook her head. "I don't know. I created it; I didn't see anything wrong with the designs or the implications."

Izzy muttered and tried to scrub off some more remaining muck. Felina sighed and got up. She paced a bit then stopped and looked at the two.

"I don't want to get further into this. Come with me now; we'll take the stairs. The Great Dragon will want to see you immediately."

She indicated a door, beyond which a spiraling staircase could be seen. Joe hadn't heard of any attacks the Chengkomon might have, or even if they had attacks, but no sense in risking it. Better to be well when they met the guy behind all their problems than unconscious.

But they were soon to see there was not much improvement. "Might have been refreshed if we'd gone comatose," muttered Joe as he moved his aching feet onto the seventh flight of stairs. Izzy was in worse shape, being so short.

After eighteen stories they finally came to the very top. Both the boys gasped and hung onto the rail for support, lest they fall backwards. Felina came up behind and beneath them and pushed them forward. They tumbled into the doors and burst out. They landed on their stomachs and their remaining wind rushed from their lungs. Joe inhaled deeply and pounded Izzy on the back, forcing him to gasp in some air.

Felina pulled them to their feet and marched them down another hall. It took them only a minute to go down the single hall and reach the single door at the end. Two Chengkomon stood on either side, unmoving. Felina gestured to the door. Joe and Izzy nodded to each other, gulped, and pushed the door open together…


	5. It Is Finished

Gasudramon grinned as the doors opened

Gasudramon grinned as the doors opened. He had chosen this room for one purpose: it was very intimidating. The room was dimly lit, with statues of grotesque digimon lining the sides. It was the largest room in the building, even bigger than the Coliseum, and Gasudramon's elevated throne was shrouded in black. At the far end of the hall, a tiny bit of light poured in as two small boys, trembling, entered the room.

The door slammed shut behind them. They both jumped. After a few seconds of whispered consulting, they approached the darkest part of the chamber, which appeared to hide Gasudramon. They knew they were facing imminent doom, but they weren't ready to go down without a fight. When they were in range, bright golden lights flooded the throne, illuminating Gasudramon's grand face. He turned slightly, and thirty sharp teeth, coated in bright red blood, gleamed. Izzy glanced at Joe. He nodded grimly. They had come.

"So," chuckled Gasudramon, "you are all that is left of the amazing DigiDestined? Pitiful!"

"There are more," said Joe bravely, though he was shaking hard. "They are alive."

"And how can you be sure?" the horrible dragon drawled. "You believe the two girls are in my dungeons?"

"We know they are," piped up Izzy. "We had sufficient evidence that gave data supporting the attack of Mimi and Sora and the taking of them into your dungeon facilities."

Gasudramon eyed Izzy shrewdly. "I don't like detectives. I think I shall eat you first."

Both boys were terrified now, but they held a strong front image. Joe said, "You think we're alone, but we're not. Our friends are all around us. We can feel them. We'll never give up, because we know that they're right behind us, supporting us. You can give them illusions, lock them up, freeze them, but you can't get rid of them." Indeed, there now seemed to be a ghostly silver form of someone…the first that died: Agumon. It solidified into a solid-seeming silver white figure.

"Don't give up," he said, "we're right here." He moved in front of them as more shapes began to appear. Piximon was next. "Don't worry about going down fighting!" he said. "You're going to make it through this!"

Now TK and Kari. "You can get him!" they encouraged. "This guy uses slaves and delusions to get what he wants! He's a coward!"

Gasudramon's eyes had been bugging out, but now they settled back. He laughed. "So you think to use my trick? Illusions! Ha! Well, I shall not fall for this!"

But more were coming. Matt and Tai stood next to Agumon, Pixiemon, Kari, and TK. "This guys a wuss!" said Matt. "He's a monster who enjoys watching grief." "Take him down for us!" added Tai. "You can do it!"

Gasudramon was less sure now, but he couldn't let that show. He mustn't let these delusions get to him!

Now it was Yasomon's turn. "He used tricks and traps and exploited babies. This fiend doesn't deserve an honorable death!"

"Yeah!" added one of the two new shapes. Gomamon looked mad. "You deceived us instead of fighting right." "You're too weak to fight us," said Tentomon, "so you defeat others and use them instead."

Nyuraionmon materialized next. As they watched, his dark features brightened and his face got its 'good look' again. He had returned to Leomon. "Gasudramon," he growled, "you are a pathetic excuse for a digimon and should be exterminated." He sank into a fighting stance. "Whatever you two decide to do, remember that we are all behind you."

Soon the other digimon arrived: Gatomon, Patamon, Palmon, Biyomon, and Gabumon. They joined the line in front of Izzy and Joe, mouthing encouragements as Elecmon emerged. Now there sixteen shadowy figures before the two boys, and Gasudramon was losing his control. Ghosts? Never! Yet these seemed far too real to be simple tricks! He quickly regained his composure and pasted a smirk on his face.

"These shades won't do you any good. I have an army of Chengkomon at my command!" He snapped his fingers and shapes began to file in. The boys recognized them as the Chengkomon from Tor Kasa, but now there were others, as well. Tigers, lions, mice, raccoons, bears, flies, bees, fish, seals, desert rats, and so many others. The variety was staggering, and there appeared to be over a thousand of them. They lined the hall in huge rows. Gasudramon leered at the group in front of him. "Still think you have a chance?" he sneered.

Then, to his surprise, a Chengkomon stepped out of line. It was Worrapsi, the sparrow girl.

"You can't do this," she said quietly.

"What?" shrieked Gasudramon, eyes bulging with fury.

"You can't do this." Her eyes were large and brown, and now soft tears coursed down her cheeks. "For years we have waited for saviors. We did not rightfully belong in Secondary Village. But we had no choice! Your leadership was forced upon us. We never wanted it. But we heard, from the outside as more came how legendary children were destroying the evil that was corrupting our world. And we dreamed about how, one day, they would enter Secondary Village and destroy you, so we could live peacefully as we once did!"

Gasudramon thundered to his feet. "Kill her!" he screamed. Some Chengkomon turned to do that, but as they did, Tabira jumped in front and was slashed down instead. Worrapsi stared in horror at the body. "Why?" she asked. Tabira opened her mouth weakly. "I've always been a failure. Now I have given myself for a better cause, and so free myself up to aid the DigiDestined." Her spirit form appeared over the now-lifeless body and drifted towards the DigiDestined. Worrapsi followed.

"You may think you've won," said Tabira, "but you haven't. These people can be resurrected in a ritual beyond your knowledge." Izzy and Joe gaped. Their friends could be brought back?

Gasudramon chortled. "But for that they need four _live_ ones. Worrapsi does not count."

"But there **are** four lives ones," said Izzy suddenly.

"And how do you know?" said Gasudramon in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Because they're not here." And suddenly everyone understood the reasoning. Everyone who had died and either supported the DigiDestined or opposed Gasudramon was here. But Mimi and Sora were not. Gasudramon's gaze swept the hall.

"Why were they not killed?" he asked. "Who saved their insignificant lives?" He snapped his head around to face Caniinya. "You are in charge of prisoners; why didn't you kill them?" Caniinya looked uncertain. She cast a quick glance at Felina, who smiled with mock benign. Caniinya shook with rage.

Gasudramon was not pleased. "Your rivalry is well known," he roared, "but you have no need to practice it within my court!"

Before he could continue, a shining golden light filled the room. A beautiful woman with a face as bright as the sun floated to the ground. As she came nearer, the silvery ghosts grew brighter. In the dark room, they seemed like the sun and the moon. In a firm but gentle voice she commanded, "Bring out the others." There was a great rush and several hastened to obey. Before long, the comatose forms of Mimi and Sora were brought and laid down on the floor before Izzy and Joe. The ghosts formed a circle around them as the lady levitated directly above. She closed her eyes and a pressure built up in the room. She began to sweat. Suddenly, Gennai appeared, looking quite young. He joined the feminine figure and held her hand. She seemed to relax a bit, but the pressure built stronger.

To Gasudramon horror and anger, Felina approached. She pushed her way through the crowd and paused outside the circle. Then she closed her eyes and raised her hands, beckoning. From all over the crowd, those who were loyal to Felina unconsciously took a step forward. Felina looked around, and then called out, "This is a thing that must be done for the good of both realms. Behold, your Mother, Stragini!" There was an audible gasp, and a slight smile appeared on the bright, straining face of the woman. Felina continued. "She is calling on her great power to restore those who have saved our land many times over, and they will continue to protect us – if they live. Her Radiance's great son, the Genesis, is helping, but the effort is too much! Join your Mother! Help her with this thing! Together, we can accomplish anything!" And Felina again closed her eyes.

But this time, it was an almost unified surge. All the Chengkomon came forward, despite Gasudramon's dangerous glares and screams. They came around, forming circle after circle, ring after ring, around the four DigiDestined and the dead. Even Caniinya came; no one could resist the need to help Stragini, Mother and Beginning, and the Genesis, Son and Creator. The golden glow grew brighter, the silver glow more intense, and in a flash of light the pressure grew almost unbearable, then simply disappeared. The light abated.

The silvery figures remained. Gasudramon did not.

With a howl of grief, terror, and fury, he flung himself into the air and beat a retreat for the doors at the end of the hall. But the ghosts were regaining their color, and now Chitaro ran forward with a little gift.

"I stole it from the Dark Masters," he informed Joe and Izzy as he handed them a digivice swirled with colors. And even before the ghosts looked normal, together they held it up. And then two other hands joined theirs; Mimi and Sora were awake and well. Triumphantly they turned their faces to it as it glowed, everyone knew exactly what to do.

"Agumon warp-digivolve to WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon warp-digivolve to MetalGarurumon!"

"Gomamon warp-digivolve to MarineAngemon!"

"Tentomon warp-digivolve to HerculesKabuterimon!"

"Palmon warp-digivolve to Rosemon!"

"Biyomon warp-digivolve to Phoenixmon!"

"Patamon warp-digivolve to MagnaAngemon!"

"Gatomon warp-digivolve to Magnadramon!"

HerculesKabuterimon, Rosemon, and Phoenixmon flew after Gasudramon and caught him in midair. "You may be an Ultimate," said Rosemon, "but now we're Megas!"

"Revenge is sweet," snarled HerculesKabuterimon. "But doing justice is better!" finished MetalGarurumon as he raced to block the door.

Gasudramon broke away and started for a wall.

"Out of the way!" yelled WarGreymon. "Nova Force!" The orange tornado threw Gasudramon around and dumped him to the floor. "Allow me!" said MetalGarurumon, coming up from behind. "Ice Wolf Claw!" The guns opened up and shot out beams of blue, encasing Gasudramon in ice.

"Your turn," said Magnadramon to MagnaAngemon. He nodded.

"Gate of Destiny!" he called, drawing the circle. Then he flew to the side and watched as it unlocked, opened, and began to suck in Gasudramon.

"Wait," said Stragini. MagnaAngemon quickly closed the gate and it disappeared.

"Do not do that," Stragini said. "There will be a time when the Dark Dragon will be needed. Put him instead in this." She held up a compact disk. Izzy took it, put it in his recovered laptop, and downloaded the program. Then he stood up and backed away. HerculesKabuterimon picked up the frozen Gasudramon and placed him by the computer. Light shone out of the laptop, and Gasudramon was sucked in. Izzy took out the disk. It had turned black.

"Now," said Stragini. MagnaAngemon opened the Gate of Destiny again, and it sucked in the disk. Gasudramon was defeated.

Or was he?

Well, I think I tied up all the loose ends…or did I? Heh heh…review, please. By the way, there WILL be an epilogue, and there will the resurrection and the Genesis and all that be explained. Note to Teishin Izumi: *Sticks out tongue.* See?? They DIDN'T die completely. I know this was suddenly very dramatic. The epilogue will no doubt be extremely anti-climatic. Ah, well. This fic is the longest and oldest of all my fics. It's also the first I started and I the first I've finished. Sniffle. I can't believe it's over! Well, I'm past my morbid fascination with ways of killing people (I hope) and now I can happily continue with my funnier fics! In fact, I'm working on Wish Upon a Jellybean Sandwich right now! Well, so long, stay tuned for the much-needed epilogue!


End file.
